A Love Reunited
by HisColdTouch
Summary: "We can get through this…"  "I know…"  "I'm not leaving your side."  "I know…"  "Don't close your eyes… please…I need you…"  "I know…"  "Your leaving…"   "…I know."
1. A new Addition

**Readers,**

**This story is warped,and may anger some. No sexual innuendo or what not, just plots that may not please many.**

"Tell me more about Edward Cullen." Monique pondered. I sighed as began telling my cousin the countless stories of hatred that was my life with the notorious Edward Cullen.

"There's nothing to tell! He's an ignorant, up himself jerk with no regards for others feelings." I stated, pursing my lips and nodding once. I was quite pleased with my summed up interpretation of the infinite reason I could not stand Cullen.

"But Bella, there has to be a reason that you hate him so much!" Monique pressed, her eyebrows mashing together in frustration. Nope. None at all. Besides that he wanted to drink my blood. I bet little Edward was expecting me to run into his arms and be like 'Oh! Edward! Make me like you are! I don't care if I have to leave my family and drink the blood of poor little animals for all eternity!' Uh, no. I don't date horrible inhuman creatures. No heartbeat, no deal.

Not to mention his attitude to me now. He still had the nerve to look at me with an expression of longing, as if he were trying to 'dazzle' me back into his embrace. Egotistical maniac.

"I told you why I hate him so much. And you're not to go near him when you arrive at school. Do you understand?" I looked deep into my cousins green eyes and bestowed upon her the fury that was caged in my brown ones. She gazed at me with a curious and probing look that made my façade falter for a moment. The reason I had given her for my aversion to the Cullen's was not entirely truthful…

"I understand. Only because I do not wish to hurt you." Monique sighed and surrendered. I smiled smugly at my triumph.

"By the way, I hope you packed warm clothing, Forks is nothing like Australia." I injected, swaying the conversation. Monique looked at me, then at the rain that pelted the side windows of Charlie's cruiser and gave me a look that distinctly said: "No shit, Sherlock."

" I did, by the amount of times you told me it was hard to forget." Monique held up the parka she carried in her hands and gestured towards the luggage that was in the boot of the car. I put a hand on her shoulder and said with a sense of mock seriousness, "Cousin. You have one parka in Forks. You will go far in life. No, seriously, you brought more than one right?" Monique blinked a couple of times and raised her palm to her face.

The car remained silent for a few minutes. I sensed a tension in the air, besides the fact that Monique was idly staring out of the window into the misty haze that she had doomed herself too. It might have had something to do with the fact that Charlie was singing very loudly, and very badly, to an old Beatles song.

"Won't you miss it?" I asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

"Miss what?" She replied, yet never withdrew her gaze from the passing figures and buildings shrouded in fog out the window.

"Australia. You know, the heat, the sun…..the guys…"I trailed of suggestively.

"No. First, I'm more the one for things that are cold. Its fresher, you know? Second, sunlight isn't very good for me….I have sensitive skin… Third, the guys are exactly how you described Edward Cullen." Monique stated, a look of repulsion on her face. She glanced at me for a second, then looked back out the window, her expression distant.

It was strange. Monique never did go out into the sunlight. I've seen her occasionally, but even then it was a very hasty movement that she had no pleasure in proceeding with. And the lack of Vitamin D was taking a toll on her. She had pale white skin, but with a rosy tinge to her cheeks and bright crimson touching her lips. She stood out in Australia, the same way I did in Arizona.

"What's with you and the sun anyway?" I thought back to Edward, and why he couldn't go in sunlight. Glittering asshole. I snorted at the resemblance Monique had to a vampire. Her bad luck I guess.

"There's nothing wrong with the sun, it's just personal preference. And my paper thin skin! And why did you laugh?"

"Personal joke." I retaliated defensively. She continued to stare out the window and for the rest of the car trip to Charlie's. I wondered what was so damned interesting about that window, but I thought it better to leave her to her thoughts. She was probably pondering what she was thinking to come here… just like I did.

"Home sweet home!" I exclaimed as I got out of the cruiser and stared at Charlie's house. I smiled as I thought about the time I was new here. How all that had changed. It had been a year since I first arrived at Forks. I glanced around the yard to see Mike's van in the driveway. Charlie got out of the driver's seat and groaned at the sight of Mike, leaning nonchalantly against his parked van.

"Mike's here!" I squealed, and bounded towards lone figure. I had been with Mike for a steady eleven months. He smiled as he saw me running towards him and his angelic baby blue eyes glistened underneath his slightly damp, golden locks.

"Hey babe!" Mike called. I reached him without a moment to spare and kissed him full on the lips. When we broke apart he smiled smugly and winked.

"It's only been since yesterday."

"Hours too long." I said between pants of excitement. Just then, I heard my father's gruff voice call me.

"Bella! Come and help your cousin!" I sighed and ran over to where Monique and Charlie were struggling with bags. There weren't that many, but they were heavy for their size.

"Monique, this is Mike. Mike, Monique!" I gestured to each of them and Monique held out her hand to greet Mike.

"Pleased to meet you." She responded formally. Her chocolate brown hair fell over her shoulder as she picked up two of the heaviest bags with slightly more ease than Charlie.

"You too." Mike took Monique's hand and squeezed it gently. Monique went back to picking up her bags and followed Charlie who held the rest of them into the house. I followed them in and sat down on the couch. Mike flopping lazily over the seats, head in my lap. I played with his hair idly as Monique dragged her bags through the living room.

"Your room is upstairs to the right. Opposite Bella's. Oh, I'm sorry, there's only one bathroom." Charlie admitted sheepishly. Monique smiled and nodded and headed towards the stairs, lugging her bags along behind her. She glided up the stairs seemingly effortlessly , with Charlie puffing and panting behind her.

"So, fill me in on your cousin." Mike started. I sighed; this was going to be a long story. I gathered my thoughts and calculated an adequate response.

"OK. Um, well, Monique's parents, actually, Monique's mother, died giving birth to her; they didn't know who her father was. Her mother was… _that _type… if you know what I mean." I gave a knowing look to Mike who gave a sorrowfull half-smile. "She had been staying in Australia with her grandparents up until now. They died a few weeks ago… Strange really…But long story short, she had no where else to go. So Charlie invited her to with us." I inhaled heavily and finished.

"But, what do you mean, they died? They were sick? Tell me more, how old is she, what's she like, what should I expect?" Mike pressed. I rolled my eyes at his need for detail and continued.

"Monique's grandparents died of an animal attack. They were out camping in the bush close to their home when Monique was away for the weekend. She was the one who found them. So don't mention them or anything. She's our age, and keeps mostly to herself. She's not really a people person, you know? So expect polite greetings, but not warm conversations." I thought over my information and nodded.

I had covered all the necessary stuff.

"Ok, then, Say hi, bye, please, and thanks. That about it?" Asked Mike innocently. He looked at me with his adorable, puppy dog, ice blue eyes and I melted under their incapacitating gaze. I nodded and gave him a kiss, molding my lips to his, feeling their soft embrace. I felt the blood begin to pump in my veins, faster and faster, felt the pace of my heart sprint, as if dancing. I could never imagine this reaction to a touch with anybody except Mike.

"Um, excuse me, Bella?" I quickly turned my head around to see Monique standing in the corner of the room with her nose crinkled and her fists balled up, making her knuckles white. She looked away, embarrassed at the scene she had walked in on, yet somewhat repulsed by a smell of some sorts.

"What is it?" I asked impatiently. I hated it when people interrupted my make out sessions with Mike. First Dad, then the gym teacher that one time and now my cousin. Monique blushed, even though her face still showed all the signs of disgust. I remembered that face. She used to make it when we were little, whenever I fell over and scraped my knee. Whenever she made that face, grandma used to get worried. She also made that face when the doctors were taking blood from my arm last spring. She said she felt nauseas, so the doctor checked her out and her heart bet was off the charts. Eh, she's just weird I guess. Australian.

" Um, do, do you mind if I sit with you at lunch tomorrow? Just until I get settled in." Monique stepped back a few steps from me and pressed herself firmly against the wall. She looked uncertain, like a deer in the head lights, but retained her menacingly revolted expression.

"Yeah sure, whatever." She nodded and walked up the stairs, whilst I went back to kissing Mike. But Mike pulled his head back as I leaned in, rejecting my embrace

"What's with her face? She's so pretty, but she looked like she smelled something bad." Mike pointed towards the stairs and raised one eyebrow. He then made a quick, not-so-subtle show of smelling his armpits.

"She's funny like that. Don't ask me I haven't seen her in a year. She doesn't come up often." Mike nodded, still gazing towards the stairs.

"She's very strange…" Mike added, pressing his lips to my neck. I giggled and felt the blush rise in my cheeks again.

"Yep, Very. But I have to put up with her I guess." I giggled. I like Monique, sure, she was a really great cousin… She was very polite and kind and caring and gave the best Christmas presents… but when it came down to it, she showed me up at everything I tried. And she doesn't even make it seem like there was any effort involved…It's not like its intentional, just annoying to be upstaged. At everything. This then led to many cold shoulders and tantrums over the years.

"Bella?" Charlie called me from upstairs. I moaned and slowly got up from the couch.

"Be right back." I held up a finger for Mike to stay where he was and trudged up the stairs, making a show of my dissatisfaction.

"What is it dad?" I called to him as I reached the top. I walked down the corridor to see him in Monique's new room that used to be his old study. I scowled as I looked at it. It was a fairly large room, with a double bed and mosquito net, desk, rug, easel, and a keyboard. I flinched as I saw the instrument, remembering the vow Monique and I made a few years ago. We swore to each other we would both learn piano as soon as possible. We had just come back from an event our grandparents took us to, where a young, handsome boy was showcasing his compositions. It inspired us so much we begged our parents to let us learn. I took lessons, and thought this would be the one thing I showed her up in. I practiced day and night, and finally was feeling smug about our little competition and how she would be humiliated when I finally beat her.

But the day of the mini concert we held at Christmas, I was conquered once again. I played the first part of 'Fur Elise', the only part I knew and could play, and Monique astounded others as she played 'Claire De Lune'. I gave up piano that day.

"Could you help Monique unpack for me please, Bells? I have to go back down to the station for a bit And send that bloody Labrador home." Charlie gestured towards the bottom of the stairs where Mike was waiting for me.

"But Dad-"

"No buts Bella. Help your cousin. She needs all the help she can get right now." I turned to scowl at Monique who was leaning out of her window, her waist length hair blustering in the breeze, dancing like flames of a chocolate fire.

I thundered down the stairs to a bewildered Mike. "What's the ma-"

"Dad thinks you should leave because Monique needs her space. Monique needs to unpack her things in the larger room. Monique needs her peace so she can settle in smoothly..." And I continued like this until Mike kissed me on the cheek and hurriedly made for the door before my temper rose to a level where inanimate objects were tossed.

Exhaling slowly, I walked back up the stairs to my cousin, who was still staring aimlessly off into the distance. She was way too out of it to be normal. Maybe she had one of those diseases where a kid gets dropped and is permanently retarded but is weirdly good at everything? Like Rain Man?

"Let's get this over with." I mumbled, but Monique didn't budge. She just sat there.

"Hey! Monique!" I yelled at her, quite irritated.

"Hmm? Oh I'm sorry. It's just so beautiful here! I got lost listening to the songs that the wind was singing to me!" She exclaimed. I snorted. She was definitely dropped as a child.

"Poetic aren't we? So, let's unpack." I rubbed my hands together and examined the five suitcases that lay on the floor before me.

"Before we unpack, I want to give you this. Just to say thank you for always being there for me and never saying or thinking a mean word against me. You're my only friend right now." She smiled gently and the sincerity in her eyes overwhelmed me. She opened her suitcase and took out a sketchbook. Opening it, she withdrew a sheet of paper that had been slotted in. My conscience sent a wave of guilt through me at her words.

"Here. I hope you like it. I think it was the hardest drawing I've done yet! I couldn't get you right, the drawing always put you to shame." She mumbled and handed me a large sheet of paper with a drawing of us, so perfect it could have been a photograph.

"Monique, I…I..I don't know what to say! It's so beautiful…I can't thank you enough." I hugged my cousin and walked into my room, placing the beautiful portrait of the two of us onto my bed. I skimmed it with my fingers lightly and smiled. The feeling of aversion all but forgotton.

"So, where to begin?" I asked her as I walked back into her room. I fought back the sudden surge of emotion that her kindness bestowed upon me and began to unzip her cases of luggage.

One case was completely filled with undergarments. I giggled when I held up a black lacy bra with diamantes on it. She blushed and snatched it off me hurriedly. A though crossed my mind and I had to ask out of curiosity…

"Monique? Have you ever-?"

"No. Now put that down." She interrupted me as I picked up a red monstrosity. I giggled furiously and chucked the bra into the draws with the rest of them.

Another one of her cases was filled completely with shoes. I sighed in envy as I placed them on the show rack in the corner of her room.

The third case was filled with art supplies like paints, brushes, canvas, paper, pencils and so on. How stupid. You needed a pencil. And a rubber. I don't even know what half this crap was for…

"You have a complete suitcase dedicated to your art crap?" I asked her, putting on my best 'are you serious' expression. She merely nodded and unpacked the rest of her clothes. She placed the remnants of the last two cases, which actually contained clothes, into the wardrobe and leapt to her feet.

"I'm so thirsty!" She said, then blushed and sat back down again. I laughed at her; she was always very self-conscious about minding her manners in another person's house.

"I'll get you a drink." I stood up and walked downstairs into the kitchen. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and walked back up the stairs. Monique had tidied her room up so fast it wasn't funny. It had gone from being utter chaos to being perfectly neat.

"How'd you get this place so neat so fast. Oh, here." I asked her handing the water over. She merely put it on the desk and smiled at me.

"Well, I like to keep my room clean." Monique merely shrugged and sat on her bed, where multiple art supplies were sitting. They barely moved as she flopped onto the mattress with surprising grace.

"Are you nervous about school?" I asked her, sitting beside her on the bed.

"No. Should I be?"

"Well, no, it's just human instinct to fear new things." She flinched at the third word of my sentence.

"Well, then, if it's the human thing to do, I consider myself quite nervous." She laughed awkwardly, touching the back of her neck nervously.

"But that rule doesn't occur to you." I replied seriously. An expression of shock crossed her face and she turned a ghastly pale color. I was surprised that was possible.

"You're a Martian, silly!" I laughed and scuffed up her hair that was arranged into perfectly soft, silky waves. Monique's face eased and she softened her rigid stance.

" Ha ha." She said sarcastically. "For a minute there I thought that you- nothing." She pulled herself up and started fiddling with her art supplies.

"For a minute there you what?" I asked her curiously. I raised an eye brow at her.

"For a minute there I thought you were going to say something discriminating and rude. But Martians aren't that bad." She said quickly. I could tell it wasn't what she wanted to say, but it was a good cover. I didn't argue with her, I merely walked out of her room and into mine. What a pigsty. There were clothes strewn across the floor, books scattered and papers scrunched all over the desk… and a pair of mikes underwear hung from the door handle. I grabbed _those _ and tossed them under the bed.

"Hey Monique, I think I should get you to clean my room!" I yelled as I glanced around the pit of unholy darkness that I lived in. I heard Monique's musical laugh and began tidying up. I cleaned as much as I could be bothered doing, picking up a few clothes from the floor here and there, attempting to dispose of all the failed essays…I surrendered and grabbed my shower bag, heading for the bathroom.

"Hey Monique?" Monique looked up from her sketchbook, fingers smudged with charcoal. She looked perfectly at ease.

"I have shower priority by the way." Monique rolled her eyes at me and went back to drawing.

As I washed my hair I began thinking. Thinking about all the questions that plagued me. Questions that revolved around my cousin's life. The life I knew so little about. I had never seen her enjoy eating something. She always looked like she was about to throw up. No wonder she was so skinny.I never saw her in sunlight, and those times I did it was usually with a reaction that her skin was going to burn right of her bones. Her skin was pale as chalk, yet porcelain smooth. And one more thing I noticed, she was complaining about being 'so very thirsty' earlier on, yet when I went into her room just then, she hadn't touched her water. At all.

But as soon as I thought up the theory that my cousin was one of _them, _my thoughts were quickly counteracted by logic.

Yes, it was true that Monique was disgusted by the mere sight of food, but she ate it didn't she, and it has been keeping her healthy.

And it's also true that I never saw her in sunlight, but that could be because she is very sensitive to UV rays. Little melanin in the blood.

White skin, vitamin D deficiency.

Porcelain skin, genetics.

But what got me was if she was so thirsty, why didn't she drink. Then once again. I was met by logic. Monique's eyes were not red like James', nor black or topaz like the Cullen's. They were green, a clear, and crisp emerald green. And she had a heartbeat, and not only did it beat, but it beat like a humming birds wings. She also was warm, despite the fact that she was pale white; her embraces were always those of comfort. Like bath water. And she didn't eat me. That was a plus.

But as I mulled things over in the hot water, reality drifted away from me and I welcomed the feel of my dreams with open arms. When the water started to cool, I robotically dried myself and stepped from the sanctum of steam and hot water.

Dressing and clumsily waddling sleepily to the end of the hall, I peeked into Monique's room to see that she was already asleep. Fingers stained with charcoal, sketchbook open on the floor.

I tiptoed to gaze at the drawing before my eyes and sighed at its realistic portrayal. The forest of the Olympic Peninsula was depicted perfectly on the rough paper, the scene from her bedroom window replicated with precise accuracy. I picked the drawing up and dragged my fingertips along the drawing, as if touching it would prove it was not as flawless as it seemed.

But the only repercussions of my actions, was to smear the charcoal down the page. Distorting and warping the image beyond recognition. I felt strangely smug and dropped the ruined drawing and left the room, feeling slightly more confident.

I clambered into my bed and thought for a while. About Mike. About School. About Edward Cullen. But after a long period of time, I thought of the questions that plagued and pulled on the edges of my sanity no longer, but embraced the kiss of slumber.

**REVIEW**


	2. Something strange

**You start to see things, to pick up on things, but you know nothing yet.**

MPOV

My dreams were filled with the dark, haunting images of my past. I wrestled with the animal that had killed my grandparents, trying with all my might to fight it off, but in the end, I just couldn't. I wasn't strong enough. The creature, the monster, had taken them in its jaws and slaughtered them, all before my very own eyes. I cried myself to sleep every night after that. Seeing their mangled bodies and the smell of blood that consumed the air, its aroma making my head spin. I would always flee from their festering bodies, back to their home. Allowing the path of events to unfold, I followed my celestial self into my bedroom, approaching my mirror. But I never made it that far before I awoke, cold shivers shaking my frame.

Being back at my uncles frightened me. Not because of Charlie or Bella, but because I was afraid of what would happen. I wasn't the type of person that insisted upon misfortune and disaster stalking their waking lives, but I was a person who was aware enough to see misfortune strike others down when no one else noticed.

I glanced at the clock on my bedside table. The flashing red numbers inscribed themselves in my sight even when my eyes remained closed. My alarm would go off in less than thirty seconds, a monotonous buzz reverberating through my shaken conscience. I slowly raised my hand and tapped the off button before it had a chance to disturb the others. Dragging my feet from the warm cocoon of blankets I placed my toes on the cool, wood panelled floor. I was so careful as to not make a sound that it took me by catatonic surprise when Bella leapt in my room and tackled me back onto my bed. I sprang back from her immediately in a flurry of movements, unaware of what had just happened.

"Morning! Gosh Monique, it's like I ran into a brick wall." Bella rubbed her shoulder and a look of unease swept across her soft, feminine features. She shook it off and the gentle grin crossed her face again as I felt my heart come to a slow. I rolled my eyes at her and laughed.

"It's all muscle my good man!" I said in a Sherlock Holmes voice and flexed my biceps. Bella laughed and walked out of my room calling back over her shoulder.

"School starts in forty five minutes. I suppose you should get ready." Sighing I stood up, and walked towards my closet. I reached in and grabbed the first pair of trousers and first blouse I could get my hands on, at the same time absent mindedly running a brush through my hair.

I had put on a red, long sleeve sweater that formed a V-neck, starting from my shoulders. The pants were black and reached the top of my knees. They were tight fitting and had been gathered up the sides. I shrugged, not being bothered to change into something more for my first day. I wanted to be in the background. I got that from Bella.

I examined myself in the mirror with a grimace.I never wore makeup, much like Bella. I thought it was fake. My green eyes were like solid metal. Glassy almost. My crimson lips seemed stained to the color of blood, and remembrance of my grandparent gruesome death washed over me. A tear ran down my cheek as I thought of how much pain was inflicted.

"Monique! What do you want for breakfast?" Bella called from down stairs. I grimaced at the thought of food.

"Nothing. I might grab a piece of fruit on the way out."

"Suit yourself."

I went back to getting ready. Snatching a leather backpack from my drawer, I threw all my books that I needed today into it, not caring about the strength and ferociousness in the way I did. I slipped into a pair of silver ballet flats and trudged down the stairs.

"You're going to freeze in just that." Bella stated, scanning the clothes I wore. I merely shrugged and glanced at the clock. It had only been five minutes since Bella arrived at my door, and I groaned at the vast space of time that lay ahead of me, waiting to be filled. I settled for sitting down on Charlie's armchair and picking up the book that lay closest to me. It was Bella's much abused copy of Wuthering heights

"Bella? What on earth do you find vaguely romantic and heart wrenching about this novel?" I asked her holding up the book in one hand. The book bent over in the air like it was made of jelly or something.

"Please don't ask me that question." Bella answered dimly, and her face went blank as though she was remembering something that occurred far in the past.

"Honestly, Heathcliff is an absolute _bastard._ He was the one who led Cathy to her death! And then kidnapped her daughter!" I was about to go on about the wretched book when I saw a pained expression flitter across Bella's face.

I sighed and shrugged at her as I begun to read the book at random pages. I practically had the thing memorized, quoting each line in my head before I read it. Time passed, slowly, and forty minutes on it was time for me to join Bella I her truck and head towards Forks high school.

"I still can't believe you're not cold." Bella said to me shaking her head. I winked and headed towards the truck. There was a thin layer of ice on the floor, making it slippery for Bella, and there was an almost crystal like frost coating the trees. But the wind that blew against my face was warm, almost soothing. The atmosphere was calm and serene, yet fooling to ones eye by appearing cold and bitter.

"For the last time, I am fine." I said each word slowly and distinctly. Bella make a tisk-tisk sound and started her engine. I covered my ears as the ancient Chevy truck roared to life.

"Oh, grin and bear it." Bella mumbled and begun to drive down the icy road. Very slowly might I add.

"Why is Edward Cullen such a jerk?" I asked her. Bella scowled at me, but I was genuinely curious. She had boasted about him on the phone for weeks, and then suddenly, a wave of hatred emanated from her. It was a very peculiar attitude towards someone she had once called "Adonis".

"Please don't start this again!" Bella begged, gripping the steering tighter so her knuckles turned white. I just continued to stare at her, egging her on with my silence.

"Look, he is just generally- I mean- like, um….-with his stupid death stares….and he is just so persistant…I just…I hate him."

"Death stares"

"Yeah. He looks at you like he wants to drink blood…" Bella trailed off and chuckled to herself. I raised my eyebrows and stared out the window, watching the trees crawl along at the speed we were going.

"I don't see how drinking the blood of somebody can be humorous." I mumbled, suddenly sickened. Bella's grin faded and we were sentenced to a silence for the rest of the trip.

"Ok, Here we are. If you need anything, come and find me." Bella said quickly as she parked the car and leapt from the driver's seat into the arms of a ready waiting Mike. I cautiously stepped from the car and glanced around. Bella and Mike had already gone off towards the school, and I was left standing there all alone besides her truck. Somebody tapped my shoulder and I turned around suddenly, taking a step back.

"Hey, are you Bella's cousin? I'm her friend Angela…I know you must be nervous, so I thought I would be the first to say hello…" A tall, thin, brown haired girl held her hand out for me to take. Her expression was cautious yet very kind. I shook it gently and smiled.

"I'm Monique. It's a pleasure to meet you." I said politely. She smiled, her doe-like eyes warming and grabbed hold of my arm. I didn't flinch away from her contact like a normal person would do with a stranger. She seemed charming, and I was instantly ate ease with her.

"I'll show you to the office. I think you are going to like it here." Angela told me, and led me towards a building that looked completely foreign and utterly depressing.

"I'm sure you're just as nervous as Bella was on her first day." Angela confessed attempting to make small talk. I sighed and shook my head, pondering my thoughts.

"I'm not nervous really. I'm more… wandering around like a lost soul in limbo." I said gazing towards the beautiful overcast sky I yearned for so much whilst in Australia.

"You're different. I like you." Angela commented whilst she opened a glass door that led to a small room with various pot-plants and paper hanging off the walls. A plump, red haired woman sat at a desk writing something on a sheet of ivory paper and looked up at us smiling when we entered.

"Mrs Cope? I would like to introduce you to Monique Warrington, she's Bella Swan's cousin." Angela stated. Mrs Cope looked at me smiling. Her puffy cheeks flushed from the icy wind that had blown in through the open door.

"How pleasant to meet you! Where have you come from?" She asked me, holding out her hand. I shook it like I shook Angela's and smiled back at her sincerely.

"Australia." Mrs Cope's lips puckered and her eyebrows raised. "A long way from home, aren't we?" She asked. I nodded, fighting the burning desire to respond with the words that I _had _no home that could be of any comfort anymore. But that would scare her. And Bella.

Mrs Cope handed me a slip of paper and told me to get it signed by all my teachers. I scanned over it and nodded, thanking her as Angela and I left, heading towards block A where my locker was.

"Ok! What do you have first? Let's see…Art!" Angela piped up. She seemed pleased. Suddenly, a short black haired boy appeared behind her and swung her round, kissing her full on the lips. Angela's face looked ambivalent when she turned back to face me, her glasses slightly dis-shelved.

"This is Ben. Ben, Monique." She gestured towards the both of us, staring at something in the distance.

"Pleased to meet you…Hey! You look like Bella! Only prettier!" he exclaimed. Angela suddenly turned around and slapped him on the shoulder, glaring at him. He raised his hands in defense.

"What? I'm just saying!" Ben whispered. Angela turned back to me-I was very embarrassed at being compared to my cousin who apparently every boy was falling over for- and smiled once again. A bell chimed and the buzz of footsteps and chatter filled the halls.

"Come on. You have art first. Ben and I are with you, as well as Bella and a few others that hang around with us. We'll show you where to go." Angela led the way down a long, grey corridor and into a room where a few students were sitting already, pencils out and paper withdrawn from their sketch pads.

"Oh, great." I heard somebody mumble. I glanced around to see Bella sitting at the opposite end of the room, head in hands. About fifteen students rushed passed me to get to their seats, and by the time I could comprehend anything at all, there was no seats left in the room.

"Ah! I assume you are Miss Warrington?" A tall, gangly man appeared behind me beaming. His hair was wild, and he smelled of stale alcohol. There were smudges of charcoal on his nose and fingers and his oddly put together attire clashed badly. I nodded and held out the slip of paper for him to sign.

"Here you go. There's a seat next to Mr Cullen over there." The teacher pointed towards a table where nobody sat. Except a most peculiarly, handsome boy. His shoulders were squared, holding a perfect posture and remaining motionless as if frozen. He had pale skin, and chaotic, bronze hair. I felt my cheeks warm slightly at the site of his odd, golden eyes flicker towards me. But that feeling was gone quickly. I compiled myself and regained a straight posture and blank expression. The teacher signed my slip of paper and I headed over towards the bronze haired boy. Cullen…Cullen….could it be Edward?

I sat down awkwardly, dodging the fiery glare from my cousin and throwing him a quick, polite smile. The red haired teacher begun his lecture on the importance of anatomical precision during drawing and instructed us to each draw our perception of human anatomy as a warm up exercise. Taking out my sketch book and pencil case full of art supplies, I began to sketch a lean, muscled figure in motion, muscles rippling with strain. I tried to remember my cousins warning and did not look at the handsome boy that sat beside me, but I felt a continuous gaze falling on me every few seconds, only to flitter away and return moments later.

The teacher instructed us that we had thirty minutes to compile an adequate drawing that we could use as a guide for our next assignment. The room had filled with the incessant chatter of the students. But my table remained perfectly silent. Boys were laughing and holding up their drawings, the majority being caveman drawings of women with enlarged chests. The silence between me and Edward was excruciating. I felt the constant glance of Bella pricking at the edges of my sanity. Time passed a fair ten minutes when the silence surrounded me broke.

"You draw beautifully." A musical voice chimed beside me. I looked up at the boy nervously, to see I serious expression on his face, as he gazed from my drawing to my face.

"Thankyou…" I murmured, embarrassed. His look was curious, like an old man trying to tune into his radio, only catching snippets of the broadcast. I dropped my gaze and focused more intently on my drawing.

"I'm Edward Cullen." He voiced next. I hesitated for a moment, then glanced back up at him shyly. His eyes were warm, the colour of Topaz, and moving like liquid magma. I straightened and replied quietly, "Monique Warrington." I forced a slight, polite smile onto my face, and tried to avoid the waves of disbelief my cousin fired at me.

"I can't believe she's sitting next to him." Bella's voice carried to my ears, and I saw her shake her head and her nostrils flare. Both mine and Edward's head snapped up to look at her, who blushed and quickly turned to Mike, pretending nothing had happened.

"How did she hear that?" She mimed to him. Mike merely shrugged and held up his drawing to her. It was utterly primitive. Bella groaned and raised her palm to her face with a slight slap. She was sitting at the other end of the room, and amongst the buzz of chatter, I could still hear her. My eyebrows pulled together as I confirmed my thoughts. So it was Edward Cullen. I turned my head slightly to see him staring at me curiously. Why is he staring at me? I thought that perhaps I had something on my face, and began asking unvoiced questions. His eyes bugged out and his eyebrows mashed together.

"Um... May I ask…where are you from?" he asked me intently, still curious. I bit my lip and answered his question, trying not to phrase my answer with the least amount of speech possible.

"Australia." I limited my answer to one word.

"Oh... Why did you move here?" he asked me. He seemed puzzled, like he was trying to work out a complicated math's question. I decided than instead of lying, and risk being asked more questions, I would tell the truth and hopefully he had the sense and the decency to stop all interrogation out of respect.

"My grandparents died in a…um, animal attack..." I said, sounding unsure. He looked at me with suspicion which changed to pity and sympathy.

"I'm sorry…I really am… Was that the only reason?" he asked me, he seemed un-fased, yet slightly understanding, as if he had the answer to something he had been thinking. Why are you asking me this? I don't enjoy talking about the monsters that haunt me…

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.' He said suddenly. I shook my head, prepared to answer.

"I don't enjoy the atmosphere of Australia." I articulated formally.

"The atmosphere…" Edward pressed on, urging me to continue.

"I don't enjoy…the weather. I find the Sun just too…. Much." I rephrased my thoughts carefully, and I saw an expression of suspicion cross his face once more.

"I think I know what you mean..." He mumbled. I fought the urge to scoff at this, somehow I don't think _he_ knew what _I _meant. Or implied anyway. He stared at me curiously for a second more then turned his head towards the teacher.

"Ok! Listen up please! It is time to administer you with you term assignment! And I hope to God that you guys actually attempted to practice that anatomy exercise. For your sake… and your peers…" he trailed off mysteriously. Multiple groans erupted from around the class.

"Settle down….It's not the end of your lives here…" Edward chuckled at this. "This assignment is more of a personal one. There are no guidelines or rules… just imagination and heart…" The class was silent. There had to be a catch, what were we to do… paint what we wished? "The assignment… the person sitting next to you is the new subject of your art. See them, know them, think of them constantly and learn to portray them as you imagine them in a celestial manner…Paint the beauty you see within their face, and transfer that to canvas…There are no strict guidelines. Only those I have just said to you. You will have three class lessons to do this, including today, and the rest of the time it will have to be done at home." Mutters floated around the classroom, but Edward and I remained silent. Pairs of students were discussing the task, and bouncing around excitedly. All except Edward and I. I looked desperately at Bella, my eyes begging her to partner with me. Her eyes passed over my face once, then disregarded my pleading expression and started talking excitedly with Mike.

"And yes, you are allowed to pick your partner." The teacher interjected. Great… Im going to have do a self portrait…I glanced around the room, trying to find a name of some sorts to call the teacher by. My eyes rested on the white board.

"Mr Mathews? When is it due?" I called. Half raising my hand to signify it was I who spoke.

Mr Mathews looked around for the speaker and finally rested his eyes on me on me. The mutters died down as everyone finally saw me. Curious gazes pierced through me and I shrivelled back into myself, ashamed of speaking out. But I didn't let it show. I sat proud, and seemingly unfazed.

"Who's that?"

"Sounds Australian…"

"I heard she was Bella's cousin."

"I'd tap that."

"Eric!" Numerous voices sounded.

"Next Tuesday." The teacher answered me, ignoring the murmurs. It was then that everybody started to ask everybody else if they wanted to partner up. I looked at Bella hopefully once more who was already paired up with Mike. Then it dawned on me. I had just over a week to paint a portrait, the only way I know how. I painted using the methods of the Renaissance era. Think delicate strokes of oil paint carefully placed to create a perfect image. I would find it awkward to paint myself in that manner…_celestial beauty._

"Monique? Would you like to be my partner?" Edward's voice sounded next to me. That was unexpected. Something in me stirred, and I felt relieved that he was the one to ask me. I tried to convince myself that this was not some teenage hormonal thing… it didn't feel like that at least. It felt different somehow… A small smile crossed my face as I met his eyes straight on for the first time.

"I would love to." I replied, he smiled at me and my heart dropped. I instantly regretted accepting his offer as I thought about how hard it was going to be to capture the essence his beauty in a painting. Not to mention I had to paint him as a celestial being… I couldn't understand how I would make him anymore angelic and otherworldly than he was now. I started to worry and stressed what the final product would be, and how many times I would have to redo one particular feature until I got it perfect. I thought about the process in which I would take, and decided that a far off portrait would be best. A portrait that didn't have the strenuous task of capturing every plane of his face. Just his body in the most beatific way possible.

"Shall we write our names down and gather our canvas?" Edward suggested, stepping up from his chair. He looked troubled, and the gazes from the pairs around us gave me the impression this was strange, outgoing behaviour for him. I nodded and strode behind him to the front of the classroom. We were the first two to stand up together and the movement attracted copious amounts of glares and gasps. I ignored them and followed behind Edward toward Mr Mathews.

"Ah, Mr Cullen! I see you will be working with our new student Miss Warrington? Good sport." Edward nodded, with a slight smile. Mr Mathews handed me the pen to write down out our names and went to yell at two boys who had discovered the charcoal stash.

_Edward Cullen- Monique Warrington_

I wrote on the sheet of paper As Mr Mathews returned, slightly red in the face, he smiled and gestured towards the art supplies room. I followed Edward to a room that I could probably play around in all day. It was stocked with paints, charcoal, canvases and brushes. Pastels and slabs of marble were strewn across the cluttered room. It was an artist's paradise.

"Any idea what you're planning to do?" Edward asked me, he avoided eye contact as he searched for a canvas. He picked up the largest size and approached me. Looking at the smile on his face filled me with exuberant ideas. The word _celestial _suddenly came into view, and a clear picture formed in my mind of the painting I would form.

"Strangely… I might… Just an idea, though… you?." Edward hesitated for a moment, scanning my face. His eyes carefully took in every plane of my appearance as he scrutinized my features. I felt awkward. Very, awkward.

"Yes. I think I do." He finally said after a long pause. I walked towards the shelf In which he got his canvas and reached for the largest one. My painting was going to need space. Lots, of space.

"Let me carry that for you." Edward offered, but I waved him off, nimbly pulling the canvas that must have been larger than I was off the shelf and holding it in my arms. Edward raised an eyebrow as I walked out of the art supplies room without effort. After all, material and wood wasn't all that heavy.

"Do you need help Miss Warrington?" Asked Mr Mathews. I peered from around the side of the canvas to smile at him.

"I'm fine thank you." I responded politely. I kept getting odd glances as people passed me, reappearing with smaller canvases.

We sat down, and with the blessing of the teacher, set off. It was like jumping into the deep end of the pool on your first swimming lesson. I had no clue where to begin. But at the same time, I knew exactly where I would finish. My pencil began to glide over a sheet of paper, sketching out a rough design before transferring it to my canvas. Rough sketches became drawings, drawings became detailed works, and those detailed works became a portrait. My mind was set. Time had flown by since I had started drawing, and both Edward and I had sat there ion complete silence, hands drawing in a flurried fury or strokes.

"So, what are you planning to paint?" Asked Edward, peering at my drawing.

"Nuh-uh, you don't get to look at it until next Tuesday." I said leaning over my paper to shield it from his eyes. He chuckled and nodded, going back to his own drawing, which he was now transferring to canvas.

"So tell me more about you. Are you staying with relatives up here?" Edward pressed. Our eyes never met, but our attention was equally divided between our work and each other.

"Yeah I am. Bella's my cousin. I'm staying with her and Charlie." I said mechanically. A low sound- somewhat of a growl -erupted from Edward chest. His pencil suddenly snapped in his hands.

I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You heard that?" He enquired, surprised. I nodded cautiously. Edward looked astounded, his mouth slightly agape. But less than a second later his expression returned to an absolute façade.

He blinked a few times then spoke quickly. "My stomach... I'm starving... So what are your parents like?" he continued, hurriedly changing the subject whilst grasping another pencil. I noticed he has beautiful hands, they moved with grace and gentleness, yet looked as if they could crush a human skull if that was their intention.

"My mother died giving birth to me and my father….I never knew my father. My grandparents told me that my mother had simply described him as an angel… fallen from heaven. That's the way I try to remember him." I said, dropping my pencil and a hint of sadness touching my voice.

"So you never knew you father?" He asked me once more. I shook my head, reiterating my statement . He pondered that for a moment, then returned to drawing with a sullen air about him.

"What do you like to eat?" he interjected without motive. His strangely golden eyes pierced through me and I felt hollow. My mouth opened and closed a few times, contemplating the point to his question. "Nothing really captivates me. I only eat to keep myself alive, not to enjoy it." I grimaced when I thought of Bella eating her toaster waffles this morning. Edward sat there once more brooding over my answer. Many things appeared to dawn on his face, but they were supressed before I could make anything of it.

His reverie was finally interrupted by the bell ringing. I collected my canvas in one arm, and my books in the other, and headed towards my locker saying a quick goodbye to Edward.

I walked back the exact way I came, moving faster than normal to avoid conversation or lingering looks. As I reached the locker that I had been assigned, I was surprised to see Edward standing there retrieving his books as well.

"Is this locker 27E?" I asked, pointing to the locker besides his. His canvas was propped up against the lockers, allowing me to snatch a quick glimpse at it. I saw a feminine shape with a raised hand, but that was all before he caught me and quickly flipped the canvas over.

"Oh, no you don't, and yes you're in the right place." he chuckled. I laughed with him and carefully manoeuvred my canvas so that he couldn't see the beginning of the work. "What's' you next class?" he asked me. I looked at my timetable to see that I had music.

"Music. In C12." I read out loud. Edward smiled. I'm heading there myself. Would you like an escort?" he asked me politely. He was a genuine gentleman, I couldn't understand the reasons Bella could have for hating such a beautiful person, inside and out. "I think that would be better than me braving it alone… just because I watch Man VS Wild doesn't mean I can _actually _Bear Grylls it out here in the wild…" I shook my head in mock disappointment when to my surprise Edward actually let out a peal of laughter. "You could have just said yes…" He said obviously. I smiled at him, proud of myself and we began walking.

"Oh, wait." I said, running back to my locker. I lifted my canvas with ease, as if I were lifting a sheet of paper, and placed it on the top of my locker.

Edward looked at me stunned. "Shall we?" I asked. He nodded and led the way. The music block was at the other end of the school, and even matching Edward's brisk pace, we still had a couple of minutes until we reached our destination. "So, are you interested in music?" He asked me as we walked down another long, grey corridor. The school was seemingly filled with them.

"Yes, but that depends on what music your referring to... I'm more into classical." I confessed sheepishly. Modern music annoyed me sometimes. It was all about Sex, Alcohol and Breasts.

"Look at her… practically hanging off him. It will be the death of her…." Bella's voice made both Edward and I spin round. She was all the way at the end of the corridor, at least thirty metres from us, and I still heard her with perfect clarity. I shot her a hurt look, and she just stared at me with her mouth agape and eyes wide.

"How the hell does she hear me every time? I swear that girl is a freak…" She whispered to Mike, Angela, Ben and a few others who named I had yet to learn. The second part of the sentence was whispered, but I could make it out. I sighed and turned away. Edward shot me a sympathetic look, but that soon changed to a questioning one.

"You have very good hearing." Edward stated, impressed. I smiled and thanked him as we rounded the corner and entered another one that looked exactly the same. "I could say the same to you." Was my reply, he merely smiled crookedly, eliciting a funny reaction from my insides.

"The school is a labyrinth." I mumbled. Edward laughed and nodded. "You will get used to it soon enough." I glanced at him, to see his long stride matching mine. He was so incredibly graceful it amazed me. It was then I heard a thump resinating from down the corridor behind us.

"Bella! Are you ok?" Mike was asking Bella who lay splat on the floor, books scattered. Mikes hands frantically hovered over Bella, not knowing where to touch.

"Does it look like I'm Ok? Owwww!" Bella moaned. I ran to her as fast as I could.

"Bella! What happened?" I pressed, worriedly. "How the hell did you get here so fast? You were with Cullen a second ago!" Mike exclaimed. He had taken a step back and gave me an odd glare, obviously someone had been feeding him false information about me.

The truth was, as much as I loved Bella, we always had disagreements. Like two sisters with opposing star signs. They wouldn't go near each other if it weren't for the fact that they were related. If you go for that stuff though.

"I was not ten feet away, Michael, if you had seen properly." Edward spoke from behind me. Mike shot him a dirty look and helped Bella to her feet.

"I'm fine. Go to music with Cullen." Bella spat at me. I flinched away from her then cautiously rounded back to Edward. We walked down the corridor listening to the cruel words that people said about us and the exclamations they were making about our position.

"Your nothing like her you know." Edward said as we rounded yet another corner.

"How so?" I knew who he spoke about.

"At first, of course. You look like here, only different. She has a clumsy, helplessness about her. You give off an air of grace and strength. But beside physicality's….there's the rest…" My silence urged him to continue. "Bella used to be different. About a year ago, when she was new here. We actually used to be good friends for a while… did you know that? Not just friends though…" He glanced sideways at me to see a startled look on my face. I never expected that Bella and Edward would have had any possible chance of being together. Not with the way that Bella spoke about him. "Don't believe it, do you? Well we were on the verge of actually…being together, when she found out something about me that turned her off." I didn't ask questions, but there was finality in his voice that told me not to. "This is it here…" Edward spoke softly, and gestured towards a door with a treble clef poster on the outside of it. His eyes were distant, as his mind wandered from the present.


	3. Deja Vu

Chapter three

EPOV

I strode into the art room and took my usual seat at the back of the class. Other students started to pile in, and I was bombarded with a dolorous cacophony of thoughts. Closing my eyes, I raised my mental barrier, and they ceased to be anything except a gentle thrum. My throat burned a little when she walked in the room. I didn't even open my eyes to look at her. Every time I did my un-beating heart was torn just a little more. Bella crossed the room with Mike close at her heels and sat with the other gaggle of followers she had accumulated, with a quick glance in her direction, I could see her looking anxious and shooting glances at the door every couple of seconds.

"Oh, great…" Bella breathed, and a dark expression crossed her face. Then it hit me. It was a scent like Bella's only emphasised. But it was also dulled at the same time, with a sweet aroma that seemed to soothe the burning in my throat. It was like having one hand in fire, the other in ice. I had to do a double take.

The girl who walked through the door was a spitting image of Bella, only stronger, more athletic and dominant. Her skin was pale, almost the shade of mine, and she walked with an inhuman grace and speed. She strode into the room with an elegant determination and a sense of power. She approached the teacher and he instructed her to the empty seat next to me. I caught that her name was Monique, but it seemed ill fitting to her for some reason. She looked in my direction and our eyes met for the briefest of moments before she flickered them away. But what I did see, was so familiar…I knew those eyes. At first I thought it was because they were Bella's… but they weren't. As she approached me I caught flickers of her features. Her eyes weren't Bella's at all. They were crystal green. Like emerald ice, piercing through whomever they gazed upon. She sat next to me and her scent washed over me in waves. Despite the burning, the secondary aroma was intoxicatingly addictive, and I inhaled deeply taking in as much of it as I could. And then I realised, just like Bella, I couldn't read her mind.

During the lesson, I watched subtly as Monique drew. Her hand glided effortlessly across the paper, producing stunning images of a figure in motion. It was so realistic even I second guessed the quality of my own sketch. She did not look at me, or acknowledge my presence though. And this spiked a curiosity in me… I watched her figure form as he time progressed, as did mine. But I grew restless.

"You draw beautifully." I finally decided on saying. She paused, an uneasy expression crossing her delicate features. "Thankyou…" she replied, a barely there blush rising to her cheeks. The occurrence reminded me of Bella… I decided on a more practical approach to illicit a conversation from her. "I'm Edward Cullen." Monique hesitated, the stated her own name, smiling politely in my direction. Déjà vu overwhelmed me, and blurry images crossed my mind… images I couldn't tune into…

I picked up the sound of Bella's voice amongst the babble of thoughts that swarmed my mind and my head snapped up at the disrespect of the comment. "I can't believe she's sitting next to him." Monique's head snapped up and she gazed at her cousin disbelievingly. Bella seemed surprised at her cousin's sensitive hearing and hurriedly averted her face to Mike. Monique seemed troubled, and the look the emotion sent my mind to work. Where had I seen this girl before? Why was she so familiar and alluring to me? "Um... May I ask…where are you from?" I asked her hesitantly, not knowing whether she was as shy as she was familiar. Her answer was one worded. Australia. Well I had never been to Australia in my entire existence, which puzzled me even more so if this sense of knowing was so strong. I need more information.

"Oh... Why did you move here?"

"My grandparents died in a…um, animal attack..." Her soft reply was wounded and stained with sadness. Pity shook me, but then I realised. Animal attack. "I'm sorry…I really am… Was that the only reason?" I couldn't help sounding heartless, but I was on a train of thought and wasn't about to leave it.

_Why are you asking me this? I don't enjoy talking about the monster that haunt me… _

Her thoughts echoed in my mind and I started. Suddenly aware of what was happening. Projectile thinking. It was an odd trait, but it branched off of Bella's talent of shutting me out completely. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to…" I added. She hesitated then answered formally, "I don't enjoy the atmosphere of Australia." That made me slightly frustrated. As much as yearned to feel the sun on my face, to enjoy the waves of heat on my skin, I couldn't without exposing my nature. And here I had a girl taking it for granted. The irritation vanished quickly at the sight of her eyes graze over my face. "I don't enjoy…the weather. I find the Sun just too…. Much." "I think I know what you mean..." I mumbled back sullenly.

Mr Mathews began speaking, interrupting out attempt at conversation. "The assignment… the person sitting next to you is the new subject of your art. See them, know them, think of them constantly and learn to portray them as you imagine them in a celestial manner…Paint the beauty you see within their face, and transfer that to canvas…There are no strict guidelines. Only those I have just said to you. You will have three class lessons to do this, including today, and the rest of the time it will have to be done at home." I blinked at the complete randomness of the assignment, but was great full of the freedom that was given to us.

"And yes, you are allowed to pick your partner." The gangly man added. Excited murmurs buzzed through the room, and I was hit with mental pictures of obscene depictions of females from the male students. I saw Monique send Bella a pleading glance, only for it to be returned nonchalantly and return more admirably on Mike.

"Mr Mathews? When is it due?" Monique called. Suddenly every thought was on her. Male voices resinated throughout the room, the thoughts more vulgar than the words. I grimaced and ignored the sexual jibes made at this innocent girl. After the date was given, I decided on a path of action. "Monique? Would you like to be my partner?" The question made me surprised as well. I had dropped my usual stern demeanour to a girl I had just met. But I felt like I knew her so much more… a distant memory… "I would love to." I felt relieved that her answer was willing, and gave her a smile. But her expression turned wary and pained.

"Shall we write our names down and gather our canvas?" I asked, distracting her from her painful thought process. She nodded and followed me to the front of the room, ignoring the stairs we received from other curios students. Once our names were written down, we wandered into the supply store to pick our canvas. An image formed in my mind of the painting I would soon create, and I knew what direction I was heading in. "Any idea what you're planning to do?" I asked her, as I reached for the largest canvas I could find. I would need as much space as possible to re-create the picture in my head. "Strangely… I might… Just an idea, though… you?." Was her response, and I was surprised to find she had already formed an idea. I gazed at her face, taking in every plane, ever crest, every curve. I took my time committing it to heart in preparation for my assignment. "Yes. I think I do."

I don't know how much time had passed, but I found myself sitting at my table with an almost complete sketch of the scene I was about to depict on canvas. Any attempts I made to peer over at Monique's drawing were met by an equally impressive, hasty movement that blocked my view. I had a worthy competitor.

"So tell me more about you. Are you staying with relatives up here?" I knew she was Bella's cousin, but I had so sound ignorant. "Yeah I am. Bella's my cousin. I'm staying with her and Charlie." I couldn't help the low growl that erupted in my chest. She raised an eyebrow at me, had she heard that? "You heard that?" I enquired. She nodded, and I hastily passed the sound off as an empty stomach and asked her about her parents instead. "My mother died giving birth to me and my father….I never knew my father. My grandparents told me that my mother had simply described him as an angel… fallen from heaven. That's the way I try to remember him. "Another connection was made. Pale. Inhuman Grace. Dislike of sun. Grandparents killed in animal attack. No father. This all started to piece together very strangely. I had never heard of a case like this, but it was almost as if…

"What do you like to eat?"

"Nothing really captivates me. I only eat to keep myself alive, not to enjoy it."

Once again a piece of the puzzle was out into place. It was a strange image, one where you had to complete all the pieces to gain a final understanding. I snapped back to reality when the bell tolled, and Monique was up and out of the room before I could even comprehend moving. Which was odd… I gathered my things and headed for my locker, banishing the odd thoughts from my minds and focusing on the process I would follow to create my painting.

"Is this locker 27E?" Monique has walked up to me, obviously taking the long route. She took the opportunity of my disorganization to catch a glimpse of my artwork, but I was too quick for her. "Oh, no you don't, and yes you're in the right place." I chuckled at her lack of direction and her sly attitude. After discovering her next class, which we happened to have together, I offered to escort her in the right direction. Avoid any wrong turns… God knows where she would end up if she were anything like her cousin.

"So, are you interested in music?"

"Yes, but that depends on what music you're referring to... I'm more into classical." I appreciated her unique music taste.

"Look at her… practically hanging off him. It will be the death of her…." I stopped dead at the sound of Bella's voice. She had a callous tone and the truth in her words gnawed at me. Monique looked pained, having heard the spiteful words as well, but she disregarded them and continued walking. Sooner than expected, I heard the large thump that signified Bella had made her traditional trip. Here moan echoed and Monique bounded back to her to check if her cousin was alright. The kind gesture was met with ill temper and she soon walked back to me with a defeated look on her face.

"Your nothing like her you know." I stated. "How so?" Monique asked, surprised. "At first, of course. You look like here, only different. She has a clumsy, helplessness about her. You give off an air of grace and strength. But beside physicality's….there's the rest…" Monique said nothing, and urged me to continue by her expression. I inhaled and gathered my thoughts hastily, articulating a response. Bella used to be different. About a year ago, when she was new here. We actually used to be good friends for a while… did you know that? Not just friends though…" It seemed longer ago than it was, and my feelings had all but subsided. I still felt a twinge of sadness every time I saw her with Mike, but today my attentions were otherwise diverted. "Don't believe it, do you? Well we were on the verge of actually…being together, when she found out something about me that turned her off." I finished there. No willing to go on anymore. I had revealed far too much of myself already than I was comfortable with. We rounded the final corner and came to the music class room.

"After you." I gestured for Monique to pass through the doors of the music room. She smiled at me and entered thoughts of our conversation forgotten. Most of the students were already in class, talking quietly amongst themselves.

"Hurry, Mr Cullen. I assume your Miss Warrington? Let me sign your form please." Monique gracefully approached the teacher and held out a slip of paper. She came and sat down next to me just as Bella and he little entourage entered the room.

"You are extremely late Miss Swan!" Bellowed Mr Thomas as they sat down at their seats. Mike rolled his eyes and Bella ignorantly snorted. Mr Thomas had an artery on his neck that liked to pulse adamantly whenever his temper flared, and it was currently in sync to a techno beat. The blood pulsing through the jugular. Before my throat could begin to burn, the sweet aroma of the girl sitting next to me reached my nose, soothing it.

"Next time you will be punished!" he exclaimed. Angela looked sorry for herself and Eric looked ambivalent. Bella still looked positively arrogant as she slouched in her chair, unwaveringly and stubbornly indignant.

"Moving on. Today we will be continuing our segment on musical composition. Now ,you had a task last week to compose a piece of music on your own. It was to be of a melancholic tune. Any volunteers?" he asked, scouting the room. Eric's hand shot up into the air.

"Mr Yorkie. Please tell me this isn't your abbreviated version of the Star wars them again." Mr Thomas rolled his eyes and went to lean against his desk, exhaling impatiently.

"No sir, and it was Dungeons And Dragons last night, if you _must _know." Eric made it sound like the teacher was utterly foolish not to know the difference between the two.

"Please, Yorkie, just get on with it." Mr Thomas sighed. Eric sat at the keyboard and laid one hand in his lap, making his other hand form a pointing shape. He pressed the keys very hard in a pattern that would have made angels cry. He made continuous mistakes with his own composition and apologised for them. When at last he finished pushing at random notes, no sound of applause was heard except from Monique who clapped politely.

I looked at her with eyebrows raised. " I think he deserves a clap for effort. And I liked it. It showed the chaos and confusion of modern day society." Monique stated matter-of-factly. I laughed out loud then straightened my face when I received awkward glares. I stared at Monique; not believing what she just said about that travesty Eric would call a composition. She looked quite proud of her self, with an expression of mock seriousness. It was then I was lost. I was teleported to another world as I gazed at her features, and the warped sense of remembrance hit me. But I couldn't pinpoint where… but besides that, I noticed other things. Her skin was smooth, to smooth for a normal teenager, like porcelain. And the sound of her heartbeat was strange. Why hadn't i noticed it before? It was erratic, like hummingbird's wings… I know I had scratched my theory she was somehow like me, but the idea still haunted me… there were just too many similarities, but also too many contradictions.

"Mr Thomas? Monique composes all the time." Bella piped up, smirking at Monique. Monique turned a ghastly pale and the entire rosy colour that had only faintly existed drained from her cheeks. She shook her head to deny the proposal.

"She won't play. She's spineless." Bella whispered to Mike. The sound wouldn't have been inaudible to human ears, even for Mike it was low, just a mouthing of words, yet still Monique's head snapped up to face Bella, slightly irritated . And as quick as that my theory reared its ugly head once more.

"Monique? Would you like to play? It would be a wonderful way to start the lesson…" Mr Thomas asked. After a moments consideration, Monique squared her shoulders and rose to her feet.

"I bet you she can't even play." Came a snicker form across the room, and once again the voice was singled out and met with a menacing expression from the girl gliding towards the piano.

"Hey Monique, play the one that you wrote last year…you know…about that guy you were completely in love with." Bella called. Monique didn't look phased, merely nodded.

"No, I think I will play that one I wrote at Christmas. You know, just after that competition we had?" Monique replied, slightly smug. Bella's face lost all humour and a black look crossed her features. Obviously Monique had hit a nerve of some sorts.

"I think… I shall play something a little more modern." Monique spoke to Bella only, obviously feeling guilty for the cruel, personal comment. Her fingers touched the keys softly, and music so beautiful, so soft and sweet filled the room. But the music was sad, like the tale of a heart breaking. The music was like a novel; I pictured the images in my head as the melody continued. Two lovers, bonded beyond mortal means, joyous and cheerful … But the music changed key, and the melody hit a disastrous tone, making the images in my mind warped and dejected. The lovers were torn apart, ripped from the arms of the other by an unhuman force. One had lost the other, never to be found. My un-beating heart threatened to shatter like glass as the last note, the saddest, signifying the eternal isolation of the last lover. The music struck an uneasy chord within me, as if awakening an ancient sadness.

Monique stopped moving for a few seconds altogether and then stood and returned to her seat. Neither a word nor sound was made. The girl next to me held a reminiscent gaze, recalling the images her own mind had conjured up to suit the melody. The room was silent besides a teardrop I heard hit the wood of the desk from behind me. Monique spun around at the side to see Jessica Stanley silently sobbing.

I stared at Monique, my face surely full of hidden emotion. She stared back at me and smiled weakly. Her eyes were warm and gently, like magma, constantly moving and caressing her pupils.

"That was beyond words, I must say Miss Warrington." Whispered Mr Thomas. But nobody applauded. They were too busy contemplating their own story that the notes told, the tale of love, and the tale of death.

"Who was it about?" I whispered to her. Monique looked at me, and then looked away without saying anything. A flicker of emotion brushed her face but it was gone, hidden behind her serene mask before I could comprehend what it was.

"Well, I composed something too." Bella exclaimed, breaking the silence. It was somehow a statement that people did not wish to hear. Not because of the meaning behind them, but at the time they were said. If I had to explain it, it would be like silently watching a lake, which had not one ripple. Gazing into its waters you see the crystal reflection of yourself. Then somebody throws a pebble into the water, disturbing it and creasing the reflection.

"Oh, very well then ,Miss Swan." Mt Thomas cleared his throat and gestured towards the piano. Bella bit her lip; obviously regretting the choice to create ripples in the lake.

"I'll play mine… if Edward plays his first." Bella sneered. I glanced at Monique, who shot her cousin a fiery look, then turned to me with an encouraging one. I tried to read pick up a thought or whisper even, of what was going through her mind, but I was unsuccessful.

I stared at Monique for a few milliseconds, anxiously waiting for the mute on her mind to unravel and depart.

_I think you'll be brilliant._ Monique thought. She looked at me un-speakingly. It was as I expected, projectile thinking. She glanced at me and smiled, nodding towards the piano.

"I think you'll be brilliant." She vocally reiterated. Eyes silently pleading, my core shook and bent to the will of her. It was strange how this human- the word made me backtrack- drew me to her and could manipulate me so easily.

I stood from my chair and headed towards the piano. Placing my fingers on the keys, I decided to play the lullaby that was initially intended for Bella. It wasn't as beautiful as Monique's, nor as heart did wrenching …but Esme like it.

My fingers touched the keys lightly, then progressed into a courser melody, slowing down again towards the end. I finished on a high, sweet note after about three minutes and hesitated. I was afraid of the class's reaction, the only person who knew I could play was Bella. I gazed upwards; first at Bella, who looked untouched and slightly irritated at the composition. I was secretly hurt that the music I had written for her so long ago passed right over her head. But the emotion I had wished in Bella's eyes, appeared in her cousin's. It was funny how they had the same shaped faces and the same full lips, and tumbling hair… but they were so different at the same time. Eyes of ice, and eyes of fire.

Monique had a look of ambivalence set upon her face. Like she was caught in a cognizant oblivion. When I finally caught her eye she smiled and nodded, blinking a few times as her eyes became glassy.

"You and Miss Warrington could pair up and be the great composers of the generation, Mr Cullen!" exclaimed Mr Thomas, clapping his hands together. I stood up and strode back to my seat.

"I believe it's your turn, Bella?" I asked her. Bella turned crimson and nodded. She gazed at mike who urged her on.

"Edward, that was beautiful. You put me to shame." Monique complimented. She touched my hand momentarily. I expected her to flinch, but she kept her hand on mine, smiling for a few more seconds. Her skin was warm, warmer it should have been. All my theories swarmed my mind and murdered my logic. She couldn't be… everything contradicted itself…

Who was I kidding, of course she was human. I could hear her heartbeat now. Beating like the wings of a hummingbird. Which was not normal. Faster than a humans. Once again, I pushed the thought away.

Bella approached the piano, timid and regretful. But as she attempted to mimic her cousin, she slipped on a sheet of fallen paper and fell into a collection of music stands.

The burn in my throat was agonizing. Bella's scent was still as pungent to me as it was a year ago. Monique leapt back against the wall, terrified. Her movement was unnatural, almost as fast as mine was. We both stood stationary against the back wall, with half the class suspiciously looking in our direction. I stopped breathing. Glancing sideways, I saw neither the rise nor fall of Monique's chest.

"Bella! Do you have to insist on being so clumsy…honestly…" Exclaimed Angela. Monique had a murderous glance on her face. That look, the terror in her eyes but the hunger in her features, jogged my memory to something that happened a long time ago. But I couldn't remember what. I was lost in Monique's features Where had I seen them before? I racked my brain for the answer but came up empty. The only thing I found was the excruciating intensity of the burn in my throat.

One thing I was sure of though. She was not human.

Before I had time to react she had whisked from the room and down the corridor. I caught up with her easily, ignoring the outbursts from the students, and the disgusted glare of Bella at the site of her cousin and I. When we reached the courtyard, Monique put her hands on her hips and paced frantically. She finally stopped and approached me, caution with a hidden, burning curiosity held within her eyes.

"I'm sorry… I don't know what just happened…" She stuttered.

"Monique, what did you smell back there?" I proceeded warily.

"Blood."

"How did it smell?" I asked. Monique hesitated, she struggled with words and opened and closed her mouth several times.

"Blood smells different to me." She admitted. I needed more information before I started to make accusations.

"How does it smell?" I asked Monique intently. She fidgeted and dropped her eyes to the ground, inhaling heavily as if frightened.

"Bella's smelt like… lavender… and freesia." She whispered, her face went an incandescent white. My thoughts came to a sudden stop. Questions fired like rapid machine gun fire, barley allowing Monique time to pick up her fragmented bearings.

"What does food taste like to you?"

"What type of food?"

"Human food." I shot bluntly. I knew I looked menacing at the time being, but made no effort to steady my expression. Monique squirmed and looked uncomfortable.

"Dirt." She answered. One more thing to prove my hypothesis.

"You need to follow me. Now." I whispered, almost growling. Monique looked frightened, but before she could reply I sprinted into the forest. She wasn't far behind me, but far enough. I stopped at an opening between the trees, where a large boulder stood.

"What's going on? Did I do something wrong? And…your so… fast..." She exclaimed between only slightly elevated breaths. Rearing to a halt before me, panic crossed her face and she raised her fingertips to her temples. That movement, that action, triggered my memory once more.

A sudden scene played out within my mind, but I wasn't sure where from. It wasn't a scene; it was a smell and a sound. The sound of a man yelling, pleading. The smell of death, the smell of life coming to an end. I tried to open my yes, but I couldn't. I couldn't move. The man kept yelling, it was a familiar voice, Carlisle? I felt the vibrations of something hard hitting against something fragile. I heard the sound of something breaking. Then I heard the sound of sorrow. The stillness of the air. I remember my heart feeling shattered, but I didn't remember why.

"_You lied to me…" I shouted… Carlisle wore a mask stained with grief._

"_Im sorry, Edward… Im so…so sorry… I honestly thought…"_

"_Thought what? That everything would be fine, and we would walk out of here like the day we walked in? Don't be so idiotic!" I bellowed. Carlisle shrunk into himself and avoided my gaze._

"_I can help…"_

"_No, you can't. Get out." I growled. Carlisle retreated from my presence and I was left to wallow in anguish._

I shook my head as if to clear it, the vague memory was completely foreign to me… I gathered my bearing and returned to my initial plan of action. "Walk onto the boulder for me." I instructed Monique. She did as I asked. She stood there, perched on the boulder looking confused.

"Edward what-?" But she stopped speaking when the clouds parted minutely and peered through the space on the trees, hitting the boulder directly. Monique did not gleam or shimmer the way I expected. Neither did she present any glow of any sort. She only took the form of something else. Something I imagined in my painting. Something celestial. The sun illuminated her skin and created an almost angelic halo around her body. I walked up to her slowly.

"You're almost what I thought. Almost." I said reaching for her. As my hand entered the sunlight, the beams of light hit it like tiny diamond faucets. Rainbows projected from my skin and hit Monique, who's expression never changed to one of disbelief, only acceptance. "What do you mean…" She asked quietly, stepping from the boulder. "…we are more…similar, than you may think…" I warily revealed. I worried whether this was a good decision, I barely knew the girl, but an ancient memory haunted me, and told me to proceed.

"You're… like me?" She asked me, holding her hand close to mine. "Not exactly… I would say that _your _more like _me_."

Her hand shone in the sunlight next to mine. She turned my fingers over in the hand, examining them. Her words came slowly, and with much thought. "Edward, where do I know you from? …Who are you?" She asked me, voice almost inaudible to even my ears. I looked deep into her emerald green eyes. This girl, this hybrid, reminded me of someone. _Was _someone. I has known her for hours, but I refused to believe that was the only time spent in her acquaintance.

"I don't know." I mumbled back feebly. Suddenly a blur of black raced past us and reappeared at our side. I heard her thoughts before she came into focus.

"Alice." I smiled to my sister who was staring at Monique unbelievingly. Monique pulled her hand away and stared right back at Alice, bounding from the sunlight.

"I saw this…but how? She has a heartbeat! I can hear it!" Alice exclaimed addressing me. I shrugged nonchalantly. Quite past the shocked phase of the situation. Alice, on the other hand, was not. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Monique, who was now looking very awkward in a pool of shadows.

"What am I?" Monique whispered when Alice had fallen silent. Alice hesitated, mentally asking permission for the OK to continue. I nodded minutely.

"Who was her father?" She asked me. Monique began to speak, but I beat her too it.

"Monique.." I introduces, "had only a mother, who died when she was born. She never knew her father, the only description from her mother simply stating he was 'an angel'" Alice looked at me and nodded. _And have you checked all the other signs?_ I nodded. _How?_

"Alice, besides the fact that she appears differently in sunlight, she finds food repulsive, and thinks humans themselves smell like food. Bella cut herself in Music today" Alice looked shocked, obviously she hadn't been paying to much attention. I held up a hand to ensure her peace. " That's how we ended up out here." I stated. I felt pride to be the one to discover this magnificent creature. _She didn't… eat Bella?_

" No. And from today's occurrence's I can say that was unfortunate" I sighed with a touch of sarcasm. _I'm so lost…Edward explain this to me right now._ Monique's thoughts interrupted mine. I turned to her and laughed. The confused look on her face was like the look a bear gets before Emmett decided to play tag with it.

"I apologize, Monique. I can understand you must be very confused, finally reaching answers to a life full of questions. Your father was an incubus. Meaning a vampire who impregnates women, causing a hybrid offspring." Monique looked at me like she'd been slapped on the face then composed her expression.

"Well, isn't that just _awesome." _Monique hissed. "So, you're a mind reader, you can see the future, and we're all partially or fully vampires?" She asked me, seeming confident. I blinked at her. The sentence seemed to idiotically improbable, both the subject of it and how she had managed to come up with it.

"How did you know Edward and I have those gifts…?" Alice asked her narrowing her eyes.

"…Edward just responded to a statement I directed at him mentally… and you said 'I saw this' earlier on. Why, was I wrong?" Monique asked, suddenly confused. She didn't seem afraid, only slightly more relieved at the answers she was getting.

"No…I guess you have a power too, you can overanalyse conversations with double the force of a normal teenage girl." Alice giggled. Monique gave her an expression of mock seriousness.

"I don't think that's my 'gift'… Whatever that is… if I had to have one, I would have to say it was how well I got along with my pets when I was younger…" Monique admitted, half joking.

"What do you mean?" I asked her… Monique laughed in earnest. "My grandmother though I was a freak because all the neighbourhood pets used to follow me home…but…there was another time…" She trailed off, deep in thought…" Our silence encouraged her to continue. "I…I was walking through some terrain…and there was this snake…"It was a few seconds before she continued, squinting as if it made the vision in her mind clearer. "It was a few years ago, but when you face a snake, everyone knows you have to say still… It came to me and slithered around my feet… it wound itself around my leg…all I could think of was I needed it off, I was deathly afraid. I begged for it to just leave… it did…as soon as I thought it…"Monique trailed off.

"You can _communicate_ with animals?" I asked. Monique thought about it for a moment, and then shrugged. Alice looked puzzled.

"Well, it's not like they talk back articulately…I get feelings and sensations rather than an actual communication..." She stated. She seemed as if this was just occurring to her. I nodded my thoughts distant.

"Edward, I swear… it feels like I completely know you... I'm not joking...and it's making me insane." My head snapped up.

"Yes I know. All day I have been feeling a strange emotion…like Déjà vu…" I stated. I studied Monique's face and another memory filled me. This time it was a picture and an emotion. An empty hospital bed and an overwhelming sense of depression, sadness and suicide. It felt the longing to accept death.

_Gone. _

_I touched the sheets of the bed and created creases in the material. I felt Carlisle's hand on my shoulder but I shrugged it off, rising from my seat to my own bed. I picked up our journal and scribbled in it furiously, disregarding Carlisle's anguished sigh as he left the room._

"We should talk to Carlisle." Alice interjected, causing the memory to dissolve into my subconscious.

"Your right. He should be at the hospital. But… before we go… She's Bella's cousin, Alice." I answered. Alice gave a sympathetic smile and nodded. "I know… Monique shouldn't expect a warm welcome when she gets back…" Monique moaned. "Who's Carlisle?" She asked. "He's our…father. He's a doctor at the hospital, and will probably be able to give you some answers." Alice replied.

"What about school?" "I've taken care of that. Jasper went to the office for you to say you felt extremely ill. Something you both had eaten the previous night." Alice pursed her lips as she conjured up the make believe scene of a taco eating competition. I heaved a little.

"Do you think you could keep up?" I asked Monique. She smiled at me, obviously pleased at the opportunity to be able to run. "I kept up with you on the way here, didn't I?" She came back with. We began to run to the hospital, consciously slowing our pace for Monique. I lead, and Alice at Monique Flank, minding that we kept a safe speed for her. I could hear her pulse slowly increasing as she reached a speed not possible for humans. She wasn't as fast as a pure blood, but she was able to keep pace relatively enough. We reached the hospital in a matter of minutes, stopping in the foliage, wary not to arouse suspicion.

"Is that the hospital?" Monique pointed to the large, grey building in front of us.

"Yes, that's it. Carlisle works on the top floor." Monique nodded at my answer as she slowly regained her breath. Close to the hospital was Forks cemetery. I could see it in the distance not half a mile away, and directly behind Monique was a statue of an Angel perched above an elaborate grave stone. Another scene, another memory.

_My body was weak, colours were fading to black, white and shades of grey. The beds next to me were empty. I gazed longingly out the window at the grave stone with the beautifully crafted angel sitting on its top. Even from here I could see the flowers __**he**__ laid down every morning. _

_My insides twisted, and a violent fit of coughing shook me. Death couldn't come soon enough. It was on its way though. Not long now…_

"Edward?" Alice asked. I shook my head and squared my shoulders once more, beginning to walk towards the hospital, with Monique striding besides me.

_Edward, something isn't right… I can't make it out clearly, but something big is going to happen… please be careful around this girl… _Alice warned me, I nodded minutely and continued through the glass doors.


	4. In this life do I despair

**And Now i lay me down to sleep, i pray the lord my soul to keep**

"Dr Cullen? Your son and daughter are here to see you. They say it's urgent." Said Nurse Botansky, peering through the door. I thanked her and she shut the door quietly. I signed my name on the last few documents I had sitting on my desk and walked to the door to see what was so urgent my son couldn't wait until the end of school. This was the third time this week that one of my children had mysteriously been ill. It always had something to do with a bad taco.

"Ah! Edward, Alice! What can I do for you?" I asked as soon as I spotted them hovering by my door.

"Carlisle. This is Monique." Edward said softly. He moved aside to show a girl extremely familiar, but different... I leapt back against the wall. She was different, much different.

"Carlisle…what's going on?" Edward asked, worried. The only thing I could do at the moment was think something else. I recited the lyrics of "Let it Be" over and over in my head, whilst still retaining my sanity in front of Alice and _her._ Edwards irritation grew, and Alice was whipping her head between us, confused.

"Carlisle, we need to tell you something we found out, you won't believe it. Edward was-" Alice begun but I cut her off. "Alice, Edward, may I please speak with you? In private." I added the last part sternly. I kept my thoughts distracted as well as I could. She looked frantic at the reaction I had elicited and remained behind whilst I took my children into my office.

"Why are you thinking a Beatles song, Carlisle? What's wrong?" Edward persisted, I could see him try to make his way around my thoughts. _When I find myself in times of trouble… _"You need to get rid of her. Immediately." I spoke harshly, and with a dominance in my voice that meant I was serious. If she stayed, everything I had built would change. Things would be uncovered that were meant to stay hidden. "Carlisle, what do you mean stay hidden?" Edward raised his voice at me. _Mother mary came to me…_I didn' t reply, but Alice's face went blank.

Edwards eyes became wide and his head snapped up in shock. "Alice, what was that…" He voiced through a shaky breath. "I…I don't know…" Her voice was uncertain and she squinted her eyes, trying to illuminate the image she had just seen. "What did you see?" I asked her seriously. "I saw… a statue… with an angel of stone… it was crumbling and had a grave of flames…" She whispered. _And whispered words of wisdom, Let it Be…Let it Be…_

"Get her out. Now. And you are not to have any communication with her. Do you understand me?" This was for their own benefit. What would result from this encounter was already going to cause problems. "But Carlisle, she's a hybrid! She's-" Edward began, but I cut him off, pointing to the door. Edward shot me a dark look and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. I heard voices from the outside and Alice and I listened intently.

"I am sorry, you should go back to the Swan's residence. Let me sort this out, trust me."

"I do. But, Edward… don't leave me in the dark, ok? I have searched my as long as I can remember to find answers, and when I finally do…"

"I understand." Edwards voice was robotic, but he couldn't hide the compassion that he felt. I hears her footsteps echo down the hall as she set off. Why would Edward tell her to go to the Swan's house? What was for her there? Alice was looking at me with confusion, but before she could voice any questions, Edward barged into the room pointing his finger directly at me. "Give me answers. Right now. Why did I just tell an innocent girl, who just moved here from another country might I add, to find her own way home without any knowledge of this town whatsoever? What was your problem?"

"Home?"

"She's living with the Swan's."

"Why?"

"Bella is her cousin. She just moved here from Australia. They are her only family left." Edward growled at me. That wasn't right… But she did resemble Bella… "Australia? And what happened to her… family" The last word was an addition I didn't necessarily believe. "Yes, Carlisle. Her Mother died during child birth, her father was an incubus and her Grandparents were killed in an animal attack. Tragic, huh? And now she's out there alone." The only thing I could retaliate with was:  
"You and I both know it wasn't an animal attack…wait, she's a hybrid?" That took me off guard. She hadn't been a hybrid, she had gone. For good. "I want answers. Now." Edward spoke slowly and clearly. I want prepared to let him know about her. The truth would destroy him. Not only him, but everyone else who was minutely interconnected.

"As your father, I am telling you that you will have no further contact with that girl. Is that clear? I don't care if she's a hybrid or not, this time I mean it, Edward." The words stung me. Being cruel was not in my nature, but this was for the best. With a menacing look Edward stormed out of the office and down the hall.

"Carlisle… what's going on… please… I'm so confused…" Alice whispered, eyes wide with bewilderment. My heart started to ache. "I think it's best if you left too, Alice. I have some things that needed to be taken care of." Alice's face contorted into pain yet with a sad understanding and she left the room, following after Edward. I was left alone to my thoughts, left to mull over the event that would surely rock the lives of me and my family very soon. It was unavoidable. He was bound to remember sooner or later.

I sighed and withdrew the journal I kept under my desk. I carried it wherever I went, and read and re read the entries they held. My fingertips traced over the indentations in the paper where the quill had dented it, they lightly smudged the delicate lead lines left behind in the drawings, they hovered sadly over the poems that their hearts had written… I looked at it every night, wishing desperately that things had worked out differently, regretting that I didn't think of these modern cures soon enough…

Sighing, I placed the journals into my bag, knowing I would read them later tonight. Reluctantly I tore my thoughts away from the ancient sadness that had haunted me for so long, distracting myself in the pool of paperwork that I was drowning in.

**********************************************************************************MPOV

I walked down another street. This one had trees too. This one also had a lot of rocks and puddles. Just like the last one. And the one before that. I was utterly and completely lost. I had been sentenced away from the hospital with no answers whatsoever, despite the promise to receive them. When I had arrived, a man-Edward and Alice's father I suppose- had come out of his office only to be shocked as soon as he laid eyes on me. His face was familiar, and he reminded me of what I thought my father to be. He seemed to recognise me too, but in a negative perspective. Was it because I was what Edward called a "hybrid"? Whatever it was, he wasn't happy to see me… So here I was, wandering the streets of Forks attempting to find my way back home, where I knew a very angry Bella would be waiting, demanding answers. Not that I had any.

I had always wondered why I was different. Why food tasted so terrible, why I was so pale, why I was stronger, faster, more agile than others… Why my throat singed constantly… I had been given an answer. But it was highly unlikely. But what other one did I have? A drop of moisture hit my cheek, and I looked up to see thunderclouds tumbling across each other like water molecules.

An umbrella appeared over my head and I turned to see Edward standing next to me, looking sullen, agitated and apologetic. I smiled weakly at him. "I'm so sorry, I have no idea what came over my father… I will be having words with him tonight, I assure you." I shook my head and held up my hands. "No, honestly Edward, leave it. I don't want you fighting with your dad because of me. I obviously offended him in some way… I think it's best to leave things alone…" I replied. His expression was an unbelieving laugh. "You think I am going to let you be alone in the world, with no answers, no one to turn to, no way to go… your only destination at the moment is an ugly fight with your cousin… and you can't say 'well, at least it's not raining' because you're in Forks." Edwards kindness was the best thing to happen to me in a while, and I returned it with a genuine smile, expressing my vast gratitude.

"What did I do to make your father so angry?" I asked after a minute's silence. Edward shrugged his expression ominous. "He refused to tell me, and all he was thinking were lines from a Beatles song…It frustrating when he deliberately blocks me out like that…Don't worry, he will come around. I just need to talk with him." Edwards answer frustrated me, I honestly didn't know what I had done to upset Carlisle like that… We turned a corner and through the rain and fog I could make out the outline of Charlie's house, Bella's truck already in the driveway. I inhaled and grimaced, not wanting to face the dangers that seemingly lay ahead. "I better leave you here… I don't think Bella would take my presence too lightly…" Edward commented as we reached the front lawn. I nodded and gave him a half smile. "Thank you so much, Edward… honestly…" I mumbled, looking at the ground. "It's no trouble… I will see you at school tomorrow; hopefully we will be able to sort things out then…" Edward looked thoughtful, then handed me his umbrella. I took it absent mindedly and turned to walk to the front door when I realised he had nothing to use for the walk home, but before I could return it, he was gone.

Walking into that house was like awaiting the guillotine to fall. I opened the front door and quietly tiptoed, folding Edward's umbrella and placing it by the door.

"Bella, come on darlin', calm down… you know your cousin hates blood, she was probably sick and is out getting air or something…" Charlie offered Bella. I peeked into the kitchen to see Bella pacing. "Charlie, she left with Cullen. Around two hours ago, you can't honestly think she was 'getting air' for two hours, can you? Bet you Cullen kidnapped her or something… keeps her in his rape dungeon…" Charlie's hand pounded the table at Bella's crude comment, and I jumped a little. "I will not have you disrespecting the Cullen's like that… I don't care what personal quarrels you have with Edward…Look, here's your cousin now…" Charlie waved an exasperated hand at me upon sight. As Bella swung around, the rage of hades was being borne down upon me. I took a step back, but she motioned for me to get up stairs right away. I did as she asked, too afraid not to, to be quite frank.

"What did you think you were doing? You… you _freak?" _ She spat the last word with such ferocity I winced. "Bella, you well know the smell or site of blood sickens me…" I returned calmly. Bella thrust her sleeve up to show a miniscule cut, a couple of centimetres long. "Does that look like it was oozing blood, Monique? No. I had a _trickle _of blood, not enough to make even _me _ sick. And you're going on about how sick it made you?" Bella's face was inches from mine, her eyes piercing. I didn't know how to answer. But she did it for me.

"You're not normal. Not _human... _I should know." She stormed from the room, bashing me with her shoulder on the way out. I exhaled heavily and sank onto my bed. Looking onto my desk, I saw that Bella had brought home my bag, books… and my canvas. I felt guilty and stood to thank her, but I decided it was time she needed. Sighing, I picked up my canvas and begun re drawing my design onto its rough surface.

I awoke to the feeling of being shaken ever so gently. I expected to find Bella, with a bright smile on her face and giggling at my morning hair. "Come on, sweetheart…time to get up… your already late…" Charlie gently woke me from my slumber. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" I mumbled inarticulately. "To be honest, I'm not feeling all too crash hot…" I gave Charlie a half smile and was about to say I hoped he got better. That was until I caught sight of the time. School had already started. Why didn't Bella wake me? I realised I had fallen asleep in my chair with charcoal smudged all over my fingers. My canvas had the formations of an image on it, but that soon disappeared as I through a plastic sheet over it and hastened to throw all my books into my bag. Throwing on a change of clothes and washing my face, I ran down stairs, arms full, and barely able to see over my canvas, and out the door.

How was I supposed to get to school when Bella had taken the truck. Brilliant. I would ask Charlie, but he wasn't well enough to drive by the looks of it. With my bag and canvas in hand, I began to walk through the gentle fall of rain towards the school.

With each step I took, the rain got harder. I felt the moisture sink through my clothing, and I made sure my canvas was well covered with the plastic sheet. The strange thing was, I wasn't cold… but I felt… different… uncomfortable…

Despite the small size of the town, it still took me over an hour to walk to the school. By the time I walked to my locker I was dripping in fairly large puddles all over the linoleum floor. A shiver ran down my spine, it was an uncomfortable feeling. I wasn't used to this sort of weather… sure I enjoyed the rain, but the climate here was so much different to Australia… even though I didn't feel the bite of cold externally, I began to feel uneasy. Noticing I has missed more than 2 classes, I headed for the one that was currently in session. Grabbing my canvas I headed to the art block, a small sneeze erupting from me along the way.

I walked into the art room to many, _many, _stares. Bella looked slightly guilty, yet slightly amused. Edward looked horrified and other students had a smirk on their faces. "It's nice of you to join us, Miss Warrington." Mr Mathews said, looking up from another students art work. I took my seat next to Edward, whom had already begun painting. His expression was slightly frenzied. "What happened? Are you ok? You soaking…" He took his jacket off and wrapped it around my shoulders. I nodded in appreciation. My clothes were still soaked and I felt the water caressing my skin. I withdrew my canvas and started to fill the images in with base colours.

"I woke up late… and I missed my ride and had to walk to school…" I whispered. My throat felt constricted slightly and my hand shook as I held the paint brush. Edward looked at Bella who suddenly dropped her face and hid behind her hair. Edward didn't tear his eyes away from her for a few seconds. "You don't look to great…" He said sympathetically. "I feel spectacular!" I lied, sneezing in the process. A wave of exhaustion hit me and felt a bit dizzy. "I think I should take you home…" Edward began to rise from his seat but I shook my head. "I'll be fine, honest." He nodded doubtfully and we went back to painting, even though I noticed him subtly checking up on me every few seconds.

We spent the hour painting, I had filled in my canvas and was now starting to apply the oils. I had a long road ahead of me, and it was going to be a week of extremely hard work, but I could get it done. What chance I did get, I peeked at Edwards. I could see that he was already applying a relatively large amount of oil paint, and he had progressed further than any other student. But the only inclination of the standard of the painting before he covered it from my eyes, however, was Mr Mathew's expression as he passed it.

I was just about to insist on Edward letting me have a look when I felt something come over me. It was a sudden, extreme wave of vertigo. It left me with a cold sweat and tingles at the cape of my neck. My vision blurred and resembled into the picture you get on an un-tuned television screen. I felt the air rushing past me and my consciousness slip, but instead of feeling the cold, linoleum floor, I felt strong hands grasp me and pull me towards and iron chest.

The world was black.

"_We can get through this…"_

"_I know…"_

"_I'm not leaving your side."_

"_I know…"_

"_Don't close your eyes… please…I need you…"_

"_I know…"_

"_Your leaving…" _

"…_I know."_

_And with that, my eyes were closed and a serenity sought after for so long engulfed me. The last vision I ever saw, was one of an angel, and nothing more._

My eyes flittered open. Within seconds of my consciousness I leant over my bed, finding a bucket, and emptied the contents of my already empty stomach into them. Somebody was holding my hair and stroking the side of my head. I heard a soft, soothing sound and let out a sob, falling back onto the cold hospital pillows. "You're going to be fine… it's just a fever…"A soothing voice hummed to me. I collapsed into the cool arms that were wound around me and felt their embrace tighten. "I'm so sorry…" I heard the calming voice whisper to me. I felt soother by its presence, and the sweet smelling aroma that surrounded him lulled me into a sense of complete relaxation.

"_I'm going to have to ask you to leave, she needs to rest, and I cant risk you getting any more ill than you already are…" The soothing voice was talking to someone. _

"_No, I promised her. And I'm not breaking that promise. I already lost one, I'm not about to lose the other." A panicked voice sounded. I felt a commotion about me and then a yell._

"_It's for her own good!" The soothing voice insisted. The other presence sighed and sobbed, then faded into the distance._

I awoke still in the embrace off the comforting figure. His cool hands were stroking my cheek. My head throbbed and my fingers had a tingling sensation in them, but I reached out for the person I knew would respond to me.

"Carlisle…I need you…"

"I know…"


	5. Who are you?

**I hope you guys are enjoying it so far, this is the chapter where everything starts to be revealed... but there are far more secrets to come...**

CPOV

As soon as I had heard she was ill, I had Edward admit her to the hospital immediately. Initially I objected to the idea of him seeing her, and was angered when he told me they were together at that point in time, but as soon as he mentioned the word influenza, I broke. She was brought in and I personally cared for her. The silly girl had been walking in the midst of a tempest, and the dramatic climate change between the two countries she had abided in took a toll on her immune system.

I wandered into her room where she lay sleeping and sat beside her, tucking my arms around the still frame. I had sent Edward back to school to gather her belongings, but I listened intently to make sure he was still well away.

"Eleanor?" I whispered to her. The girl in my arms turned her head slightly, but otherwise didn't move. I kissed her forehead, feeling the warmth of her skin on my lips. "Eleanor, I'm so sorry… I just didn't want it all to happen again…I couldn't go through it again…"I whispered to her. Eleanor opened her eyes and stared at me bewildered. "Who… who's Eleanor?" She whispered. My heart fell. She didn't remember. She had the same puzzled look on her face that she used to have when I used my medical terms all those years ago. I had missed her so much…

"Dad...?" Edwards's voice was puzzled and small. I hadn't even noticed him walk into the hospital room I was so wrapped up in her presence. I finally held her in my arms… My mouth opened and closed for a second. "Dad, what are you doing?" Edward asked me, taking a step closer." I exhaled and slowly spoke. "I'm terribly sorry Edward… I just didn't want things to happen all over again…" Eleanor had begun to focus on things and looked between me and Edward. I held her still in my arms and I took it as a great comfort that despite her not remembering anything, she lay with me still. "What to happen all over again?" He asked cautiously. "When I saw her… with the fever …it just all flooded back, and I couldn't hold it in anymore. I know I told you to stay away from Eleanor, but I can't stand by that… I missed her so much…" I mumbled. Edward looked completely lost. "Carlisle, this is Monique… her names not Eleanor…" He look at me as if I were deranged. I shook my head stubbornly. This was my girl, my Eleanor. _Our _Eleanor.

"Monique… do you…. Do you know Carlisle?" Edward whispered, leaning over and staring Monique dead in the eyes. Without a moment's hesitation she replied "We never called him Carlisle, it was _always _Dr Cullen." This was followed by her slapping her hand over her mouth and her eyes opening wider than a deer in headlights. My head snapped back toward her. "You remember?" I asked hopefully. "Remember what!" Edward was getting frustrated now. But how did he and Eleanor not recognise each other? I only realised this now, but surely Edward would have remembered… Or was the pain of the transformation just too much? Eleanor's face became sad, panicked. She started breathing heavily and a tear ran down her cheek.

"Dr Cullen… why… why did you let it take me? You said you would keep me safe… you promised… and so did you…" She asked me and then Edward, her voice barely audible even to me. She buried her head into my chest and I hugged her as tight as I dared. Edward still looked bewildered and opened his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it. "I tried… I tried Eleanor, I promise… But it was too strong back then, no one knew how to make things better…" I whispered back, rocking her in my arms. "But you made Edward better…" She stopped whimpering and looked at me. My eyes grew heavy with guilt. "I know…"

"Can you _please _explain to me what's going on?" Edward pleaded, becoming frustrated. I nodded sullenly and held Eleanor closer. "Slowly, Edward. Slowly. Eleanor, do you remember anything?" I asked encouragingly. She thought for a moment then spoke, staring at nothing in particular. "You were stroking my hair, but I couldn't see very well… it was so hot… and you promised I would get better soon and Edward could take me to see the swans again… But then I started coughing…." She trailed off and looked at me, panicked. I nodded and picked up where she left off, speaking directly to Edward now. "Who is Eleanor?" He asked me, with a tone of finality. Inhaling, I began my tale.

"Eleanor was my patient in 1918. She suffered from the influenza just like you, only worse. Her illness mutated the inside of her body, causing her to die slow and painfully. During that time we became extremely attached. So much so we became inseparable. I never left her side, except when I had to treat another patient.

"She was in the hospital for what must have been since the influenza first started to spread. So you can imagine quite a while. She was the age she was now back then, seventeen. She was a naturally happy girl, didn't worry too much about her condition, saying she would die alongside the one she loved if she did. This brings us to somebody else…" I paused, waiting for a reaction, any at all. Eleanor shifted her gaze from Edward shyly.

"There was one more person Eleanor couldn't stand to be away from… Her husband was sick to. Extremely so..." I hesitated for a moment, waiting for either Eleanor or Edward to respond. Edward twitched and Eleanor shut her eyes.

"He got sick a few days after her. I suspect it was because he was by her side despite the fact the illness was everywhere in the hospital. It was everywhere, period. The first few days they were sick, but still lively. I would permit the both of them to go for short walks around the courtyard with my supervision. They would sit and feed the swans that swam in the lake outside the hospital. Eleanor would tell her husband stories she had come up with and he would write them down in a book they both had. They would draw the most wonderful things in it, illustrating the adventures they were to have. He was fascinated by her stories, they were excellent, as I recall hearing some myself. When her throat grew sore, he would recite her poetry that he had written, stoking her cheek and kissing away the tears that slid down her cheek. Those poems could have made Christopher Marlow turn over in his grave." I chuckled as I remembered the poem about the man and the camel.

"On one occasion when they were tending to the swans, Eleanor began to cough. I examined her and realized she had contracted tuberculosis in conjunction to the fever, which was steadily growing more severe. If she didn't die of the influenza, it would have been that. Either way, they were both taking her slowly…

"Eleanor's condition only got worse after that. Her husband would be curled up beside her in her cot every minute of every day. He would feed her and give her his own food when she was at her weakest. He would sing her to sleep and recite his poems whilst she slumbered in hopes of easing the pain of her dreams. He grew weaker eventually, slipping in and out of consciousness. When they were both at their weakest stage, they made the pact. That they would either both live, or both die beside each other. For neither could survive if the other didn't. My heart would shatter into millions of pieces every time I saw them together. Once I looked through the window to their room to see that her husband had lost consciousness once more, and Eleanor would have his head on her chest. She would stroke his hair and sing to him, telling him how they would be all right. Even if they didn't make it, at least they would be together.

"I actually thought that her husband was recovering at one stage. His vitals became more regular, and he became stronger. But Eleanor remained the same despite a weight being lifted from her heart at her husband's health.

"He was by her side until the very end. It was devastatingly heart breaking for me not to have been able to save her; I thought I would never recover... I worked every hour of every day just trying to find the cure, anything to take the pain away. I still sat by her side as often as I could spare a moment before she passed. The three of us reminiscing about our more pleasant days in silence. She was my daughter, and I couldn't live without her. But it was painful to her husband as well, who made a frightening turn in regards to his health. He suddenly became too ill to recount. He was too weak to even attend the funeral… It was so painful for him, he loved her so much. He cried almost every waking moment. Until his hour came… " I was talking in whispers now. My still heart began to throb at the memory. The silence was eerie. I suddenly realized I might have made a mistake in the decision I made all those years ago. I had been the one to break their promise…

"What happened?" Asked Edward, suspenseful. I gazed at him, ashamed of his memory. He stared at me intently. Suddenly, realization dawned on his face; followed by fury, followed by a sudden pain that I thought would have made my still heart bleed.

"You changed him." He whispered, his voice was husky, like gravel. Eleanor buried her face in my chest and I felt silent sobs shaking her frame. I knew this recounting would be painful for her especially, as her memory jogged back to its original form, she had the most pain the recount. I couldn't believe that Edward hadn't remembered, or that Eleanor was _here. _But I couldn't question that now…Edward was staring at the floor, his memory becoming more and more real. A look of surprise crossed his face, he seemed relieved, then a new realisation dawned on his face.

"Eleanor…Eleanor Launchester…No…Eleanor…. Masen." Edward's blissful gaze became one of panic as he grasped his chest and fell to the floor, memories filling his mind. He shut his eyes and rocked back and forth, breathing ragged. Suddenly his head snapped up and a look of utter fury imprinted itself onto his features. I held Eleanor close to me, scared for her slightly.

"You died, you weren't supposed to die! You swore to me that if we couldn't pull through this we would die together and be reborn together!" Edward bellowed. His voice echoed around the office. Eleanor didn't even flinch. Edward rose to his feet and was at hers in less than a second.

"You lied to me! How could you leave me? You…_you _broke the promise! AND YOU LET HER!" he screamed in my direction. My heart ached at the sight and my eyes stung as the non-existent tears tried to re-create themselves, but I remained silent. Finally the love story that made me so desperate to find my Esme returned. Romeo and Juliet had no comparison to the courage and the love these two shared. Edward returned his glare to Eleanor, and she lifted her face to his, staring into his eyes that were once so green. The eyes that she loved so much. All her vampiric features disappeared from her face; all Edwards were washed away at the same moment. Once more, they were not Edward Cullen and Monique Warrington; they were Edward and Eleanor Masen.

Eleanor spoke in whispers. "I tried… My time was up well before I died. But I tried to hold on for you. Every moment that I denied death hurt so much, more than anything. But it was all worth it. The few extra days that I stayed alive with you were worth everything in the world. But it got to a point where I couldn't hold on anymore..." Her voice was like glass, all broken. It sounded like fabric being ripped. Her hands shook as she reached out to touch Edwards face, he closed his eyes and his breathing became strained. The first time they had touched each other as themselves in so long.

"We were supposed to die together…" Edward choked out. I stared intently at his face. It was torn between exasperation and a contortion of pain. Something formed at the corner of his eye, something silver and metallic, like mercury.

It slid down his face, leaving a red gash and a trail of what resembled smoke down his cheek. An aroma somewhat like lavender filled the air.

"Edward, are you crying?" I asked, mortified. How could he cry? It was impossible. The venom that leaked from his eye fell to the carpet and ate away at it. It burned through the cement of the floor and kept on going. I stared at him in utter horror "I don't know." Edward whimpered. He rested his head in Eleanor's lap, stroking her ankles with his thumbs, and laid there for quite some time. Eleanor stroked his hair and whispered things to him in a voice so low even I couldn't hear her. He seemed comforted by her words. A small smile spread across my face. Daughter and Son reunited. Husband and Wife re-bonded.

A small, black-haired figure appeared at the door. Her eyes were wild and she almost yelled when she saw Eleanor and Edward's embrace.

"Carlisle." She called form the doorway. Her face was blank and lifeless, except her eyes. Her eyes were filled with an ancient sadness that even I couldn't comprehend. I approached her silently as not to disturb the other two. I glanced once more at Eleanor, whose lips mimed the shape of the words 'And she kissed his nose and said that all life meant nothing to her if his was non-existent.' The last poem she ever wrote caused something inside me to twist and jerk, and I yearned for my Esme. I gestured towards the door and stepped out of my office into the white corridors. Alice looked wary. I knew she wished jasper were here.

"I don't understand...I saw… I don't know what I saw… I saw her, in the future, yet in the past as well… I saw this… I saw Edward call her Eleanor… Carlisle…" She whispered to me. Her voice cracked and I could tell that she was more broken than she let on. What she had seen had shocked her, and what was worse was the fact she couldn't piece any of it in without my aid. I looked into her eyes, that weren't black but weren't quite gold either.

"Neither do I. She was dead, I buried her myself… But she is reborn…" I murmured back. The pain of the memory hit me like a thousand knives. I recounted Eleanor's story to Alice, and watched her expression change with each passing sentence. Each word I spoke made my heart grow heavier, and Alice's eyes grow wider.

"But sometimes we can't understand how love works. These two made a bond. A bond so powerful that even I can't comprehend what immeasurable force could break it. And that's the only thing we can believe in... That bond somehow brought them back to each other In the exact form they were in before." I told Alice. I gazed at something in the far distance and tried to listen for any voices in my office. Nothing.

"You mean like…re-incarnation?" Alice wondered. Her lips pulled down at the corners and she turned to gaze out the window at the now purple sky.

" I suppose... Since Eleanor still has her memories, I'm thinking it was something more powerful. But we can only wonder." I walked up to my daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"But what about Bella? I thought that she was going to be Edward's mate… Even you saw the way he was about her." Alice interjected. She turned to face me, confusion welled in her eyes.

"I'm not sure. Maybe they have some sort of connection… Bella and Monique _are _cousins…" I pondered. Puckering my lips I strolled back into my office. Eleanor and Edward were now at the window, silently embracing. Edward had been drawn to the Eleanor in Bella. Every cell in him subconsciously ached for her, and Bella was the closest thing he had. Until now.

"Why couldn't I remember? Carlisle, why didn't you tell me?" He pressed. I sighed and thought about my answer for a few seconds. I decided to communicate mentally. _The amount of pain you were in Edward, I couldn't stand to bring it back. At that stage in your life, any emotional unbalance would have caused you to go on a murderous rampage…or worse…._ I was satisfied with my answer. I tried to block my thoughts as I thought this, but I don't know how successful I was. The real reason I didn't mention her again was simply because I couldn't bear to think about it. I didn't want any memory of the pain that caused.

"What happens now? What happens to Monique Warrington?" Asked Alice. She stepped forward into the beam of sun that now peered through the purple clouds.

"Eleanor?" I decided it would be best for her to decide. Eleanor was surprised that we were actually making her make decisions in this time of uncertainty, but she answered despite.

"I'm not sure. I don't want to hurt Bella or Charlie since I just got here.. Say we finish school this year, and then we keep to ourselves. That's only if you want me... If I'm a burden then please don't feel obligated to change for my benefit." She added quickly. Both Edward and I gasped at the statement.

"Eleanor! Don't you dare think like that! Edward and I have just got back the first real family we had and you think you are a burden on us!" I exclaimed loudly. She spun round, walking over to Alice.

"Not on you and Edward. On the rest of you beautiful family… They don't know me like you do, I don't want to disrupt the harmony." She placed a hand on Alice's shoulder and Alice responded by smiling and patting it lightly.

"Put it this way, you are better than a human." Alice laughed once and shot Edward a look. Edward shook his head and grimaced.

"To think that I saw you in Bella... Eleanor, come back here please.' Edward called. He opened his arms and Eleanor returned into their safe embrace.

"Nobody will have a problem with you. Esme will absolutely adore you, Emmett will and so will Jasper. Rosalie will be a bit iffy because you are still fertile. But she'll get over it extremely quickly… trust me." Alice said. Monique laughed and kissed Edwards chest.

"Ok. I shall stay with Bella and Charlie until the end of this year. And what makes you think I'm fertile?" Eleanor asked Alice. Alice shrugged,

"You're half human aren't you? You age?" Alice questioned. Monique shook her head.

"I stopped ageing as soon as I reached Maturity, which was much, much faster than others. I stopped growing when I was fourteen. The attention that attracted…" she trailed off and hugged tighter into Edward chest.

"Oh. Then Rose will love you. And there won't be any problem with the whole ' I want to eat you thing' because you half smell the same as the rest of us so its balanced out." Alice shrugged. Edward stifled a grin.

"Oh, yes… we have yet to discuss the whole… incubus situation…" I began. Before anything else progressed, I wanted to discuss Eleanor's past. "Eleanor, where were you born?" I began, she looked at me like I was daft.

"Chicago of course…"

"Let me rephrase…Monique, where were you born?" I asked carefully. Eleanor nodded, realising my intentions.

"Sydney, Australia."

"And what happened to your grandparents?"

"I…I… I was with a friend… and when I got home, I couldn't find them… so I just…followed my…instincts, into the bush…and found them…" Her voice was uneasy.

"What did they look like?"

"How do you think animal attack looked like? They were ripped to shreds! Drained of blood! They- oh…" She stopped dead, then a sickened cry erupted from her throat. "Oh God… I didn't… I couldn't have…" I dropped my head , acknowledging her epiphany. She cried, and screamed, and all we could do was listen to her anguish. "I killed them… didn't I? I _killed _the people I love most in the world. All they ever did was care for me, and _butchered _them…" She bellowed. Edward held her tight, but she pushed him away with such brutality he stumbled backwards, shocked. "DON'T TOUCH ME. I'm _disgusting. _I killed them cold bloodedly… I know I did…" She wailed. I took a step toward her, hand outstretched. "You might not have, Eleanor…. It really may have been an animal…" I soothed, but she shook her head. "I can taste their stale blood on my lips like aged wine…" I felt sickened at the detailed recount, and looked at my feet. Edward was next to speak. "When I was first changed, I killed… more than you know… you just have to accept that none of your conscious self knew what you were doing, your instincts took over…" Edward went to touch Eleanor's hand but she ripped it away.

"You didn't suck the life from you mother, did you Edward? You didn't suck the life from Adriana, DID YOU." She stopped, bewildered. "Who's Adriana?" Edward asked. I looked at Eleanor, puzzled. Not once had I heard of an Adriana. "I…don't know…" Eleanor trailed off.

"Edward?" Whispered Eleanor. He looked up at her, nervous about the direction of her next words.

"I'm really hungry, or thirsty. And I rally don't want to eat vegetables." Eleanor grimaced. Edward laughed and stroked her nose.

"You won't believe how long I've waited for you.

**Review!**

**I hope your liking it, any critiques would be appreciated!**


	6. I want you gone

**BPOV**

**So i have'nt uploaded in a LONG time. Partly because of SCHOOL. Thanks intellect, you do wonders for my online alter ego.**

Monique had fainted in art. I felt guilty, of course, but I was angered at the deliberate cry for attention this obviously screamed. I shook my head, angered. Charlie stood next to me watching me pace throughout the room. "Well, Bells, this wouldn't have happened if you just woke her up… you didn't have to be _that _cruel, honey…" He offered quietly. "_What do you know about it? _It was her own fault if she was too lazy to set an alarm and too idiotic not to take an umbrella idiotic not to take an umbrella! How can_ you _blame _me _for _her _stupidity? How dare you!" I screeched. Charlie raised his hands in defence and kept quiet. How did he muster the nerve to blame me for Monique getting ill? I hadn't gone to see her in the hospital, it was just a bad flu or something along those lines. When she had walked into that art room, I have to admit, I did feel a pang of guilt. She had been soaking wet from head to toe, gripping her canvas and shivering slightly.

All was fine at first, but about half an hour into the lesson I noticed her beginning to sneeze, and shake a little. And it was in no time at all she just… zonked out. Edward had caught her, and I was slight disappointed when I didn't hear the thump of her body colliding with the floor. Still pacing, I saw Charlie mumble something under his breath out of the corner of my eye.

"Say it to my face, dad. I gave her strict instructions and rules and she broke them with flying colours! Then she decides to disappear! She decided to walk to school and get freaking pneumonia or something…serves her right…" I slammed my fist on the table and ignored the pain that vibrated up my arm.

I knew I appeared mean to my cousin, but good intentions were there. There were strict reasons I had ordered her to stay away from Edward Cullen. If I didn't kill her before she got home, chances were that stupid vampire would. Sometimes I wondered if she pulled these stunts- showing off, getting sick, prancing around with Cullen…- merely to make me appear the fool. And it was working! I wished she had never come here. I wished that her grandparents were still alive so she could have stayed clear out of my life. And don't even get me started on what she really was. Every since I had fallen in music and cut myself, I was sure of it. When she and Cullen had leapt from the room I was almost positive she was one of them. Well, some sick hybrid anyway. Every time I saw her face I couldn't help thinking about the reason she moved here. Animal attack. Bullshit.

"Bella, please… Settle down…Monique is your age, months older actually. She deserves free will and freedom…And why aren't you at the hospital? I would head over there myself but I don't think I can drive…" Charlie stated. He had been ill as well today, and taken the day off work.

"What does she need next? What else are you going to give her? I clearly see where we stand Charlie… and I refuse to go and see the hypochondriac in hospital where I bet the Cullen's are swarming all over her… " I bellowed, spitting each word. "Bells, I'm just saying that she's new and adjusting and I think she deserves time to roam the town a bit...But for Christ's sake, Bella! Where she came from the climate was much different! And it takes getting used to! Making her walk all the way to school in a tempest is just _cruel. _And now she's in the hospital!"

"Oh please! All she has to do to roam this stupid town is walk outside the front door and turn around in a 360 degree circle! And it's just standard school procedure that she's in the hospital, she will be out by tonight."

"Stop being melodramatic. If you hate it here so much why don't you leave? Monique can use your room for her music and art." Charlie hissed. That dug deep. Charlie always had a soft spot for his niece but I never suspected she might have been truly, favoured over me, despite using it as a guilt trip all these years.

"Your saying you want me to move out?" I spat. Charlie sighed and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Of course not, Bella. You're my daughter; I want you to be with me until I'm old and crispy and forget who you are. But please, cut your cousin some slack. We're the only family she has." I shut my mouth and thought of Monique's present situation instead of my own.

Her Mother died, she didn't know her father, her grandparents died, she's a… _different_ and everyone at school is fussing over her. I pursed my lips and sat down at the table.

"I know dad. I'm just worried about her is all. She doesn't know her way around…Now she got sick, which I partly blame you for…" I admitted with a mock serious glare. Charlie nodded, holding his hands up in defence; he was about to speak when I heard the front door open.

"I'm sorry! Please don't be mad!" Monique ran into kitchen, coughing in the meantime. She doubled over and waited for a few seconds, recovering her bearings. Her face was white, and she stood up, slightly dazed.

"Mad at what?" Charlie asked. Monique looked at me apologetically and I shot her a fiery glare. She retreated a little then composed herself with a small sneeze.

"That I was gone for such a long time… They wanted to do a few tests… and it _was _my fault for getting sick in the first place…I was so silly to walk in the rain…" Monique admitted sheepishly. She tilted her head to the side. I glanced at the clock on the wall. School let out 2 hours ago, and she had been in the hospital since 11 in the morning.

"Don't worry about it. Bella disappears all the time. Usually ends up in the hospital as well." Charlie shook his head and I scowled at him. Monique started to smile but it was interrupted by a sneeze.

"Monique?" I whispered. Monique didn't answer. She stared off into space. Cleared my throat and repeated her name again. Still no answer.

"Hey! Over here! Yes, thank you! Can I speak to you in the lounge room please?" I asked. Monique finally looked at me with a dazed expression in her eyes. I walked into the lounge room and switched the TV on loud. Monique followed me and I turned to glare at her.

"What did you think you were doing? Where did you run off to? I _know _the hospital wouldn't have kept you for five hours." I hissed at her. I stared deep down into her emerald eyes hoping I could intimidate her. There was something different about her, an unknown persona that had been fused with her.

"I got really sick, Bella… The doctor said that my body couldn't tolerate the dramatic climate change and broke down at the first sign of infection…they had to do tests… and…" She trailed off and gulped, looking at my bandaged arm. I put it behind my back and went back to eyeing her scornfully. I was slightly afraid as she raised a hand to her throat, but she shook her head, clearing it and returned her gaze to me.

"But what were you doing with Cullen?" I spat the name. Monique's face filled with horror as I spoke. He mouth opened and her tone was angry.

"Why do you say such things about Edward? He has been nothing less than the perfect gentleman to me all since I got here… And he took me to the hospital, Bella, he stayed with me. Unlike somebody who didn't even have the heart to visit and make sure I was ok." Her eyes burned into me like wildfire.

"Edward is a sick, masochistic, arrogant jerk. You stay away from him! Do you understand me?" I was screaming now. My fury caught in my words making them all the more sharp. Monique's hands were trembling, her eyes turned glassy and pose was rigid.

"You lie!" She screamed back. I took as involuntary step back as the words echoed in my head.

"You tell me you love me like a sister, you say I'm talented and your proud of me. Then you go and say things about me that hurt. I heard you talking to Lauren Malloroy today! What makes you think these things? I try my best to impress you and be like you and it's never good enough. I have _always _yearned to be like you, and every time I do something I just hope you will smile at, I get it all thrown back in my face. So don't you _dare_ tell me that Edward Cullen is bad for me, especially when you use the term _arrogant _in his description, Bella. You leave us alone!" I had no words to say to her when she finished. It was all true. The only reason I hated her was because she could do things I couldn't. But at the same time I couldn't bear to lose her at all. My only sister. And Edward Cullen _was_ a perfect gentleman; the fact that he was a vampire was irrelevant in this situation… I slowly started to realise that the main reason I wanted her away from him, was the fact that if I didn't have him, I didn't want anybody else to either.

"Monique, I'm…I'm…"

"Don't you say sorry Bella! I'm sick of it. Just let me be. If you don't want me here, then I'll two days, just two, no more, that I have been here, you have made me feel like an intrusion. I felt like a stranger within my own family. If you want me out so bad, just say so." She told me, dropping her voice down low. I thought about that statement for a while.

"I don't want you here. I want you to go home." I admitted, never meeting her eyes once. And I wasn't lying. I didn't mean it in spite, just that she was disturbing the life I had so perfectly created Creating ripples in my lake. I loved her still, but in moderation... I didn't want her here to stay… "I was perfectly happy before you came here. I love you, Monique, but I _do _want you to leave."

Monique looked at me in shock. Her mouth hung open, and she blinked a few times.

"As you wish." She whispered. I closed my eyes for the briefest moment and felt an unnatural breeze against my face. I opened my eyes to see…nothing. A vacancy in the air that had just been filled. I glanced around nervously and switched the television off and walked into the kitchen.

"Bella? What was all that about?" Charlie asked warily, standing from the table and approaching me. My eyes stung. What had I done? I felt the hot tears spill onto my cheeks. She had actually gone…

"Bella? What is it? Talk to me!" Charlie shook me by the shoulder hard enough to make my teeth rattle. "Why were you yelling?" He asked me. I couldn't find my words. I had just told my cousin, whom I adored and hated all at once, who had no family or home, to leave and not come back.

"What have I done?" I whispered more to myself. I heard noises above me. Charlie looked at me in horror as I rushed up the stairs. I opened Monique's bedroom door, expecting to find her sitting at her keyboard. She wasn't there. The room was empty besides her bed, the keyboard and a large canvas.

I frantically searched through her draws, hoping to find a clue or sign that she was still here somewhere. Nothing. There was a note left on the keyboard, written in her perfectly curved handwriting.

Bella,

You got you wish didn't you

I'm sorry it had to end his way. Expect to see me at school for a while. I have to finish what Ive started. At least you ha . I don't blame you, know that. Thank you for everything.

Be safe.

Love,

Elean Monique

I could only guess what the crossed out sentences would have said. "You got your wish didn't you, you stupid cow." "At least your happy now." But what I dint understand was Elean. What did it mean? Was she signing with another person's name? But I didn't waste time on these inconsequential things. My cousin was gone. I didn't expect her to actually leave. Where would she have gone?

Charlie hurried into the room, stopping abruptly and doing a double take. His eyes bugged out and he glared at me, tears running down my face, note in hand.

"Where is she, Bella?" Charlie whispered. I shook my head and collapsed on her bed. Why did I say that? I didn't _really_ mean it! Did I?

"What did you say to her, Bella?" Charlie yelled at me now. He sat by me and squeezed my shoulders. It hurt a lot.

"I didn't want her here anymore." I managed to choke out between sobs. Charlie sighed and stormed out of the room. The next thing I heard was Charlie yelling into the phone.

"No i don't have the slightest idea where she might've gone! Um, tall, slender, long, dark brown hair, Green eyes, very pale, crimson lips, long slanted eyebrows… I don't know! She had none! It's her first day here…I think there was an argument…Yes…thank you." Charlie was obviously talking to his colleagues at the station.

It was then that I realized… how did she get her stuff and get out so fast? A vision of a blue van speeding towards me filled my head, and Edward Cullen suddenly appearing by my side. I pushed the memory out of my head.

What I realized then, was that I didn't care. If she were at school tomorrow, I would beg her to come back. But I didn't want her back…I really didn't. What was wrong with me? My head was pounding, arguing what was ethical and what was what I truly wanted… It was right to apologize, but it was appealing to never see her again. Never have to feel inferior.

"Bella!" Charlie screamed. I ran down the stairs with the note in my hand. Before he could speak I placed it in his hands. He re-read it what must have been three or four times, then looked up at me gravely.

"I'm coming to school with you tomorrow. I'll find her, and bring her back."

"NO!" I screamed. Charlie raised his eyebrow and folded his arms.

"I'll talk to her. If she wants to come back, then I'll bring her home myself. If she is safe and has a place to stay and wants to stay away, then so be it." I spat out quickly I hoped for the latter. My guilt was slowly washing away, and I felt sick that it was… Why did I feel so good about this?

"I don't know Bella…" Charlie muttered. He looked at is feet and contemplated whether or not to let me have my way. "The last thing you want to do is make her unhappy, right?" I asked him. He looked up at me and nodded. "You already have that part covered, don't you?" he shot me a look and I cowered within myself.

Retreating to my bedroom, I wandered what I would say to her when we met tomorrow. 'Surprise! I didn't mean it you can come home now.' Or maybe, 'you can come back if you want to but I really hope you don't.' Or even, 'Hey! You cause me so much trouble, and I really can't stand you anymore, but I want you to come back home because if you don't I'll get grounded.' I liked the last one. But in all honesty, I didn't know what I would say. I didn't even know if I would actually see her tomorrow. She could hide from me.

I lay upon my bed thinking of the countless situations and consequences that tomorrow could bring. Perhaps she would come back…preferably not. She would probably have a big sob story to tell the world.

I let sleep take me as I thought about the countless possibilities that filled my mind. I knew it would be a restless sleep, but it was better than none at all, right?

MPOV

Bella had actually said the words. She sentenced me away from the only family I had left. I stood before her unbelievingly, waiting for her to retract her speech. But she didn't. "I don't want you here." That did it for me. I didn't argue, I didn't beg or sob, I wasn't angry, I merely accepted. "As you wish." And then I was gone. As fast as I _could _go. Before I knew it, I was up the a stairs, gathering my things and out again. I even managed to scribble a note in. There were so many things I yearned to say, but didn't dare say them. So many things I wanted to write, I wanted to beg, I wanted to instil guilt, but I didn't. I left it. Because I knew there was somebody waiting for me that actually wanted me. I heard Bella's footsteps thundering up the stairs, but I was out of the house before she had a chance to stop me. Charlie was yelling, Bella was sobbing, and I was free.

I had a case, just a small one, trailing behind me. I packed the necessities, clothing, art supplies, bathroom bag etc. Wandering into the forest directly opposite from Charlie's, I found a small clearing and sat down, beginning to ponder my current situation. I had left Edward at the hospital, claiming I had better return home and settle things down… He told me I should have drunk something first, and pulled a bag of crimson liquid from Carlisle's cooling cabinet. I refused politely, knowing I would have to do it sooner or later, but choosing later. My throat still burned, but just in the manner after one has a vicious coughing fit. It was bearable.

Bella had called me Monique, and I hadn't recognised it. I couldn't believe what I remembered. What never occurred to me before. Sure, I had Déjà vu every now and then, but to remember, finally, a past life… What _did _I remember though…

"_Eleanor, are you ok? You have had that cough for days…" Edward offered me gently. He ran a finger across my cheek as my eyes watered and throat ached. "I'm perfectly fine, just a small cold…" I reassured him as I coughed once more. The worried look never left his eyes, but he nodded. _

"_You _said _it was just a cold…" Edward was hunched over my bedside, stroking the beads of sweat off of my forehead. My breathing was shallow, and I coughed severely, falling back onto my pillow, fading in and out of consciousness. Edward shook his head, leaning before me. "Maybe we should see a doctor? I'm going to call one as soon as you fall asleep… I think this is getting to serious, love…" He spoke quietly, afraid._

_And then he began to cough. _

"_Dr Cullen… she's going to be alright… isn't she? It's just a cold?" Edward was frantic, coughing every couple of words. My eyes were closed, but I could hear every word, every nervous pace that each man took… "This isn't just a cold, Edward…I suggest you both move to the hospital… It's close to here so you won't have far to travel…And when I say both of you… I mean you as well, Edward…" Dr Cullen spoke softly, concern hitting his voice. "I feel fine." Edward shot back harshly. Dr Cullen sighed and gathered his things. "A car will come to take you to the hospital tomorrow morning. I would be ready as soon as possible; the both of you will certainly not prosper from delaying this." Dr Cullen's voice was soft, as were his footsteps as he left the room. Edward rushed to my side, stroking my fingers and kissing each one of them. "You're going to be ok…_we _are going to be ok…We will go the hospital tomorrow morning, and then everything will be fine… I promise…" Edward whispered, voice shaking. A tear slid down his cheek and he began to cough violently as he tightened his grip on my hand._

_His fingers were cold._

_Edward lay in the bed next to me, sleeping. His hand was dangling from the sign of the bed, when he had fallen asleep grasping mine. He had sweat along his forehead, as he tossed and turned from his restless slumber. I silently rose from my bed, supressing a fit of coughing, and wandered over to the window, staring into the cemetery. More graves were being erected each passing day, as the patients of the hospital dwindled to a mere few. Dr Cullen had called it a "Spanish Influenza"… Apparently it was a epidemic, and we were lucky to have stayed alive this long… _

_I knew it wasn't luck. Edward and I had so much more to achieve in life, and it couldn't end here. We had to go back home, there were so many things waiting for us there… We had to travel, grow up, grow old, and die together. We had planned it all already…The grey fields extended further than I could see, and the only life that i could make out were the two swans that Edward and I used to feed every morning. That was when we could go outside… our bodies couldn't take it anymore…_

My eyes flittered open and I took in the scene around me. I lay on the ground, head resting on my arm besides my suitcase. I coughed violently, pulling my sleeves down as to prevent further illness from the cold. How had I been so stupid as to fall asleep in the middle of this? The damp forest floor had soaked my side, I felt the moisture. The problem was, I couldn't feel the cold. But just because I couldn't feel it, didn't mean I couldn't be affected by it.

I stood, heading where my instincts lead me deeper into the forest, dragging my case along behind me. Little did I know how long I would be walking.

It was nightfall, dusk had settled over the mountains like a thick blanket covering a child's face in a thunderstorm. I knew where to turn, each passing step my heart swelled a minute fragment, propelling me into the direction I knew I wanted to go. I though back to the dreams I had had… the memories I had revisited… Some of them seemed familiar, thoughts, feelings, snippets of images… but it was similar to watching a video of yourself as a toddler… you know it's you, you can see yourself and remember feeling and smells and different sensory imprints of that time… but you can't _actually _remember being there yourself. I remember being sick. That much was definite. I coughed as I brought up this memory and clutched my throat, fear being instilled into my veins. But I would be fine this time…look at me! I was walking around in the darkness, heart pumping (albeit relatively quickly), strength prevailing… I was fine… well that's what I kept telling myself.

How would I return to school tomorrow? Bella would be furious… or regretful.. or melancholic.. or a mixture of all three. And I would be embarrassed. But I couldn't leave, I had no other place to go either than with the Cullen's… and I wasn't about to jeopardise my future by dropping out of school over a family squabble. And what if the Cullen's wouldn't let me stay? I had no doubt that Edward and Carlisle would be more than willing to allow my stay, but the rest of their family, apart from Alice, had no clue what was going on. Unless they had been told.

I was close. I could feel it now. No doubt Alice would have seen me coming, and Edward would be pacing, resisting the urge to come and find me himself. But I also knew Carlisle knew me inside and out, and would hold him back, encouraging him to let me make my own journey for once.

I had made my own journey _away _from Edward.

And now I would make it back.

I approached the large house and stared in awe. My mouth gaped at its pure size. It was white and pure, symbolising that only the most majestic and regal family would abide there. It was unlike any other home in Forks… and it was Edwards. It reminded me of somewhere I use to live a long time ago.

I had made my way here… I didn't know how, but I had… and chance were I wouldn't be able to find my back again. So I began to walk up to the intricately carved, wooden doors, hoping my intrusion wasn't too unwelcome by the rest of the family.

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